Redefining History
by TheAlgea
Summary: After "the Avengers" life's moved on but then there's an explosion at Central Park and everything goes down again. Loki's back but as a kid and no recollection of what happened in the last two thousand years. Thanos wants the Tesseract, he wants Loki who failed him and shall pay, he wants to wreak havoc on the world or destroy the Nine Realms in an endless war.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first Avengers story and also made on my phone (this part anyways) I've been wanting to make a story like this and the characters are probably gonna be ooc since I'm not used to writing many fanfiction stories. English isn't my native language so I apologize for any grammar mistakes, if you see some you can really help me by telling me. I don't own anything it's all Marvel's. Please review/comment, I'll probably be not motivated enough to continue if you don't**

Tony Stark is having a fantastic day because let's be honest, if you're Tony Stark every day is a great big party. While sipping from some really good scotch he goes over the things that make this day so good in his head and smiles. Pepper has promised him they're gonna do quite some... interesting things once she gets back from her meeting in Paris and on top of that Bruce has finally relented and is on his way right now, to Stark Tower to work with Tony on some really epic projects where an expert on gamma radiation is more than welcome. Of course a bunch of other minor stuff has made Iron Man's day but they're not that relevant nor are they worth actually mentioning here. Short version: Tony Stark otherwise known as Iron Man was absolutely, 100 percent sure nothing could ruin his day, absolutely nothing.

XxXxXxXxXx

Natasha is trying to be patient, honestly she is, but seriously Clint's been in that coffee shop for a very long time. She knows the Starbucks is always really crowded but going from the amount of time Clint's been away you'd think half of New York had suddenly decided to go get coffee at the exact same time as Barton. It's not like she wants to go to Stark Tower that badly but she knows they have to be there before Bruce. The excuse is that they want to check on Stark because his recent project almost destroyed a whole street. This is partly true, Fury really isn't happy about that incident but he's not angry enough to send two of his best agent, just because Stark has decided he wants to try and make ice cream machines fly around freely for anyone who wants some, it's a nice gesture but still, not appreciated. The real reason is rather obvious for everyone: they want to keep a close eye on the Hulk. Although the green monster has saved earth from being defeated and ruled by a Norse god and his disgusting alien minions, the Chitauri, it's still a big risk to every single civilian in New York when he's in Stark Tower playing with radioactive material and gigantic arc reactors. They really don't want the 'Other Guy' to wreck New York only a few months after he's just saved it. When Clint finally gets back he's not even holding two cups of coffee in his hands. No, he's running towards the car and although he's trying to hide it, he's furious and really nervous. Natasha knows a lot of things and one of those things is very simple: if you're the cause of the way Hawkeye's face is right now, you better pray to every god in existence ( but not the Norse ones because she thinks those are arrogant and real assholes, with the exception of Thor of course) and hope you get to die quickly. When he reaches the car and gets in she immediately starts the car. He starts explaining while they're driving. And the more he talks, the faster a very luxurious car, driven by a red-haired woman goes, not even bothering to look back when said car almost bumps into every car that doesn't get away fast enough.

XxXxXxXxXx

Bruce Banneris nervous. And angry, but then again isn't he always? He's really not that angry but still, maybe irritated is a better word. He knows Fury has send the Black Widow and Hawkeye to make sure he doesn't destroy anything. That's of course not the reason he's irritated, no he's irritated because his plane has just landed and right now he's trying to find his luggage with almost all of his scientific research and material and he can't find it. His suitcase isn't extraordinary big nor does it have a special color or something like that. It's very plain and brown, it's even worn out and damaged so nothing anyone should be interested in enough to try and steal it. Now, the reason he's nervous is much easier to guess. He doesn't trust the 'other guy'. Simple, he's still doubting his decision to go to New York again, even now, standing in its airport. He's trying to blend in, he really doesn't want some guy recognizing him and making a fuss because he really doesn't know whether he'll be able to control himself then. He's just spotted his luggage, but before he's able to even take one step his cellphone is buzzing. He considers just letting it buzz and getting his suitcase first but then he remembers no one has his number except like two people, Tony ( who he has blocked for the moment because he wants to keep his temper in check when he's in public areas in New York ) and director Nick Fury. Conclusion: Nick Fury was calling, deduction: earth was in danger, so Bruce did the logical thing: he practically ran to his suitcase to make sure he had it and then answered the phone. The voice on the other side wasn't even done talking when Bruce had already dropped the phone and ran out of the airport, both luggage and phone forgotten.

XxXxXxXxXx

Steve Rogers is jogging when and where it happens. He's run over 35 miles already and hasn't broken a sweat, naturally. He's running in Central Park like he does every day and is quite enjoying himself when suddenly clouds begin to gather. It's been a sunny, nice day and Steve doesn't even have the time to frown at the sudden change of weather because then the ground starts to shake and suddenly a bright gigantic flash blinds him. He's in the middle of trying to cover his eyes to protect them from that horrible light and then it feels like the world has exploded. And this is Captain America the super soldier we're talking about. Steve feels his body being lifted off the ground and thrown away with so much power that he's sure that he would've broken all his ribs from the impact on the tree he slams into if he wasn't Captain America. The light has blinded him so much that he thought he'd never see again, but he's proven wrong when everything turns black. It only lasts for a few seconds, after the darkness he starts to see little dots but he can feel his body already recuperating, he knows it will be a matter of seconds before he can move again, minutes before he can move without pain of course.

The first thing that he thinks about is the civilians, like a good soldier. The moment he can, he looks around. He hadn't really paid much attention before whether there were a lot of people in the park with him. Of course there had been, it was a beautiful day, you had to be out of your mind not go outside. He scans through the park rather quickly. No one is really badly hurt. One other jogger had been a lot further away and had been blown away as well but less far and was obviously just really dazed. An old woman who had been sitting on a bench feeding the ducks had somehow managed to keep a hold to the bench and was now lying behind it, screaming. Steve could see she was only screaming because she was afraid. Some kids who had been playing not far away had been blown away as well but had miraculously managed to fall in the water and were only really spooked and wet. Their parents were already diving in the water to save them even though the kids were obviously not in need of saving seeing as they could swim. Some other people who had been standing on a safe distance were screaming, others were yelling and pointing and some even took out their phones like it was some kind of flash mob and they expected Steve to suddenly start dancing or something like that. When he was certain no one was really hurt or you know, dead he jumped up. Grabbing his cellphone and for once, happy he has SHIELD on speed dial he starts speaking really fast to the man on the other side of the line

"Explosion in Central Park, no injured or dead, it looks like a beam from the Bifrost but there's like a huge crater. I'm going to check up on it, maybe it's Thor but I doub-" he hasn't even finished saying what he was going to say when Fury interrupts him.

"I'm sending the rest of the Avengers, they're all in New York it'll take five minutes." He says, and that's it. Director Fury has already hung up and Steve is standing there, with the phone in his hands, staring at the huge crater. He's only a few feet away when he hears a voice. He can see someone, obviously blown away as well, getting up and rubbing his eyes, by the way his elbows stick out and are moving up and down.

"..told you that you cannot just mix Mothers potions and not cause an explosion, if you're purple again, Thor I swear I will…" The voice suddenly stops talking. And Steve finally realizes who it is he's looking at. Loki is standing in the middle of the crater, face pale and eyes wide open like he can't believe what he's seeing. And that's the last thing Steve can see before someone decides it's a good idea to start shooting in his and Loki's general direction. Both are obviously surprised, neither of them had seen this coming at all and while Steve jumps away and he sees Loki look up and do the same the only thing he can think is _Damn it Stark, what the hell are you doing? _

XxXxXxXxXx

The blasters on his hands are still shooting when a British voice suddenly interrupts "Sir, Mr. Rogers is asking you to stop shooting him."

"To hell with that!" Tony Stark grumbles. He knows what he's seen. Loki, the mass murderer and the cause of all his nightmares. And the only thing Tony Stark wants to do is destroy him.

"He's insisting, sir." JARVIS, says. "He says there are civilians in the area and that you-" the AI pauses as if not sure what to say, "should stop being an egoistic little prick and stop firing before he will skewer you with his shield." Tony has never been the one to respond well to threats but only this one time he realizes that Steve is right and that he's endangering everyone in Central park by blasting through everything and everyone. He stops shooting and flies down as fast as he can. JARVIS had already informed him that all the Avengers with the exception of Thor have arrived and are now gathering. He lands swiftly, glaring even though he knows he's still wearing his mask so no one can see him glare.

"What's going on?" Clint asks, arrow already on his bow but lowered to the ground.

"Loki," Steve says and then, glaring at Tony "And Stark is trying to murder everyone in Central Park."

"I object to that, I haven't hit anyone!" Nobody really listens and they're all looking at Steve.

"Loki is here? He's supposed to be at Asgard, you know, rotting in jail." Natasha says with venom in her voice. Barton has narrowed his eyes and is looking around for any sign of the man who had controlled his mind a few months ago. The man who has been haunting him ever since, the man he so desperately wants to put an arrow in, or preferably multiple ones.

"Where is he, I want to kill him." He says through gritted teeth.

"You don't understand," Steve quickly says, "There was something off, he looked younger, and he really didn't know who I was, you know when he saw me before Stark decided to try and kill me together with him."

"I already objected to that, it's not like I hit you anyway!" Tone exclaims throwing his metal arms in the air.

"What do you mean he looked younger?" Bruce asks, wringing his hands together and looking around nervously.

"I mean he was smaller and looked confused." Steve says

"It's a trick!" Barton says looking around angrily, daring anyone to say differently.

"Obviously," Natasha agrees. "He's trying to throw us off balance, he's a shape shifter isn't he?" _She's obviously read some Norse mythology _Tony notes before clearing his throat.

"Trick or not, we gotta stop him from whatever he's gonna do now."

"Agreed," Steve nods. But before they can anything else, something silver flashes past Tony. Bruce who's standing just in front of him jumps out of the way and manages to dodge the object but only _just_. All of the Avengers turn around immediately, weapons at the ready. What Tony didn't expect was Loki, standing there with two daggers in his hand, possibly _radiating _with energy.

"Who are you? Where is my brother? What have you done to him? I swear to the All-Fathers grave you will regret you have ever been born if you've done something to him!" His pose suggest he's going to throw more knives but that's not what catches everyone's attention. Loki's appearance is, he's much younger, not just a few years but much more. He looks about twelve, he's not small for his age but he isn't big either. He's tall though and slim. He's wearing green armor but it looks light and casual, like he always walks around with armor on, which is probably the case. His eyes looks like they're on fire and his face is twisted into rage but when he looks in his eyes Tony can see the fear. He's obviously afraid but is trying to mask it. And he fails because his legs are trembling and his knuckles are white from gripping his knives too tightly.

"I'm on Midgard am I not? I demand you tell me where my brother is immediately or I will make you tell me!" He is glaring at them and one glance sideways, Tony can see all of the Avengers are standing dumbfounded, except for Clint who's already pointed his drawn arrow, aiming at Loki but not firing yet. Tony knows he's struggling, Loki does look and act like a kid right now, who can shoot a twelve-year-old coldblooded?

"Your tricks won't work on us Loki!" Natasha yells at him. "Stop this charade and we can this over with!" At her words Loki looks possibly even more confused. He' staring at her like she's suddenly grown a second head, his hands even lower a bit like he's not sure how to react to this.

"What are you-" and for the second time that day he stops midsentence. This time not because he's perplexed but because another bright beam suddenly appears and also for the second time that day, the ground shakes and a blast throws everyone off their feet, except for Captain America who's already seen the scenario and has stuck his shield in the ground and manages to hold on while all the others are being blasted away.

XxXxXxXxXx

Loki really thinks he's losing his mind. Not only because he's being blasted away for the second time that day but also because he's suddenly appeared on Midgard when only seconds ago he's been talking to Thor, telling him that no he can't mix Mother's potions and then drink them all. Last time he did, it turned him purple. Thor had just managed to convince him to cloak him from everyone except Heimdall and Heimdall had other things to do then keep an eye on the princes when they were safe in the palace. They had snuck up on the guards standing before their Mother's door and Loki had just created some illusion of him and Thor breaking things in another hallway not far from the guards. They had immediately reacted and had run over to the noise. Thor had managed to slip inside and not five minutes later a huge blast had thrown Loki off his feet. Loki had been quite angry and had started to yell at his older brother

" I've told you that you cannot mix Mothers potions and not cause an explosion, if you're purple again, Thor I swear I will…" But then he had seen is some stranger looking at him while speaking in some gray box. After that everything had happened really fast. Before he could even apprehend what he was seeing someone started to shoot at him, creating huge holes in the ground where Loki had stood only a few seconds prior. One blast came way to close and again Loki had been thrown against something hard, this time a tree and he had blacked out for a few seconds.  
However he still _was _an Asgardian, (or so he thought) so he hadn't been unconscious for a very long time.

All his muscles had ached and when he had tried to stand he felt a jabbing pain in his ribs but it hadn't been very serious and he hadn't broken anything so he stood up anyway. His vision had been a little blurry but he had been able to see some people standing only a few feet away from him. He hadn't managed to make out what they were saying but they were obviously talking about him and once of them had been looking around obsessively, like finding Loki was his life goal. They all had looked agitated and nervous.

_Where am I? Wait, where is Thor? They must have done something to him! _It had been the only thing on Loki's mind and it was also the thing that had driven him to conjure up throwing knives.

_I'll make them tell me_ he remembered thinking and then he had thrown the dagger. Once they had all turned around to look at him he hissed

"I'm on Midgard aren't I? Tell me where my brother is immediately or I will make you tell me!" He had seen they were all very surprised. The only one that had done the logical thing was the guy with the bow and arrow. The arrow had been pointing his way and Loki knew he could easily evade it because the man had hesitated too long. But he hadn't fired it.

"Your tricks won't work on us Loki!" The woman with the red hair had yelled. "Stop this charade and we can this over with!" _What? What are they talking about? They're trying to confuse me! _The boy had thought before trying to slip his mask on again, not really succeeding but not failing either.

He had been in midsentence (again) when something blew him away (again).

Loki recovered quickly, well his body did, his mind was still spinning, what was happening? Surely mixing up some potions could never have such an affect. That wasn't possible, potions were strong but certainly not strong enough to send Loki to Midgard. And where the hell was Thor? He really wanted to know where his brother was. What if he was somewhere else entirely? What if he was in Vanaheim or worse, Svartalfheim? The home of the Dark Elves was not somewhere the crown prince of Asgard should be, period. Actually it was not a place where _anyone_ should be, prince, or no prince. He tried not to think about that, focusing instead of what the hell it was that had thrown him away. When he saw the pattern on the ground he recognizes it immediately, the Bifrost! Maybe the All-Father had come to help him! He ran towards the figure shrouded by dust.

"Father?" He tried. The figure turned towards his voice but when the smoke finally cleared it was not the All-father Loki saw standing there. To be honest, he didn't really know who was standing there. He was wearing a red cape and he looked familiar but Loki couldn't quite put his finger on it. But then he overlooked the stranger again, properly this time and thee only thing he could see was Mjolnir, clasped in some strangers hand.

Steve Rogers is the only guy standing, well next to Thor of course and Loki now apparently but then again Loki looked like a kid at the moment so he didn't count as a man, more as a boy. However this isn't very important right now. Steve looks behind him, his team was still dazed but awake and were staring at the scene before them. Steve looked back to the two former brothers.

"Who are you? And how dare you steal Mjolnir from the vault? That is supposed to be for my brother, Thor!"

Steve can hear Loki screaming from where he stands

"Loki?" Thor says looking really confused and surprised, so was Loki for that matter.

"Yes, of course! I am Loki Odinson and brother to Thor, the crown prince, I demand you tell me where you got that weapon from!" Loki is trying to sound brave but his voice is wavering and betrays his true feelings: he is scared to death. He doesn't know what do and he certainly doesn't know what to think about all of this. No amount of training could have ever prepared him for a situation as absurd, yet terrifying like the one he was in now.

"Loki, it is me! I am Thor!" Thor says quietly because he still doesn' t believe what has happened, he had expected to find his brother rampaging on earth, not looking like a kid and demanding to know where he got Mjolnir from.

"Are you mocking me? My brother hasn't reached van manhood yet, you can't possibly think that you can trick me into believing that you are Thor!" But then his eyes wander to Mjolnir and his eyes widen again when realization draws on his face.

"Brother? Is this what the potions did to you?" And after the awe and confusion, anger followed, Loki was obviously thinking of the consequences of all of this and he looked really furious.

"I am SO telling father it is all your fault! Because it is, I cannot believe you managed to convince me to help you with this! I am not taking the blame on myself like I did last time! I told you before that you can't just randomly mix Mothers potions! How are you going to explain this to her because I sure as Helheim aren't!" He took another deep breath but before he could continue rambling, the shield of captain America suddenly appeared out of nowhere and hit him on the head, really hard. The Trickster God fell to the ground, face first from the direction the shield came from, not very graciously. Thor immediately whirled around to see who DARE strike his brother down when he saw Barton, standing next to captain America looking possibly content. Before Thor could start a rampage, a voice coming from his left was heard, Tony Stark, rubbing his head and looking rather groggy, even with the suit. He stood and waved at Thor like they weren't standing in the half destroyed Central Park in New York.

"Rapunzel! Nice to see you and all but WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?"

**So, what do you think? Believe me there's more coming, the next chapter will already be typed by the time I publish this, I think but ideas are always welcome! Please review/comment it would mean a lot to me! Also I can't promise the next chapter will be as long as this one because I'm not used to writing this much for just one chapter but I'm just really psyched for this fic!**

**Xx TheAlgea**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 is here! I hope you'll like it! I don't own anything, and also please, review/comment, it would really motivate me! **

"You don't honestly believe this do you?" Tony is gaping at Thor, mouth open like a fish.

"You look like a fish, Stark." Captain America says. Natasha rolls her eyes and Clint just stares, a look full of hatred and contempt but also doubt. He is looking at Loki, who's lying on the bed in one of the many guest rooms of Stark tower (something nobody but Thor is happy with) and all of the Avengers are sitting or standing around him. Tony closes his mouth but keeps staring at Thor, then back at Loki and Thor, repeating the process every few seconds.

"I understand that you have doubts but I assure you, I can explain!" Thor says looking all of them in the eyes. Then casting his eyes to the ground for a second, he finishes: "Well most of it anyway."

Ignoring the rather obvious eye-roll coming from Tony and the exasperated sigh of the Black Widow, he continues

"Look, when we brought the tesseract with us, the All-father realized that it could do great harm, but recognized that it still was a great power. Legend says it could grant immortal life, among other things-"

"Immortality? I could be mistaking, but aren't you like, a Norse god?" Tony interrupts, looking up from where Loki lay. It was just so confusing, there he laid, his enemy, looking like a twelve-year-old (Tony doesn't know how old that makes him exactly, Asgardians obviously age a little different from humans). Tony doesn't know how to feel, he feels hatred, because that "kid" on the couch was the cause of all his nightmares, he was the one that killed all those people, and had planned to take over earth and rule it as a god. But on the other hand, he still looked like a kid, acted like a kid and well, Tony Stark was many things but he was not a man who would murder a child… or a god in the form of a child. Let's just say he had conflicted feelings about all of this.

"We are born, we live and then we die," Thor says.

"Give or take a few thousand years, yes?" Tony interrupts again. Thor doesn't react, he seemed sad.

"We weren't looking for immortality," Thor says, after a long pause. "But we needed someone with experience with the Tesseract, it had been lost for so many years, we barely remembered what to do with it. And well the only one we knew did know what to do with it was-"

"-Loki" Natasha finishes the sentence before Thor can.

"You thought you could trust _Loki_? You didn't expect him to you know, play a trick like he's known to do?" Clint looks possibly furious, his gaze murderous and now directed at Thor instead of Loki. Thor doesn't seem to know what to say to that so he continues like he hasn't been interrupted at all.

"We took precautions, but the Tesseract is still unpredictable. While experimenting on it," before anyone could interrupt he quickly adds, "with supervision of the All-father, Loki didn't play any tricks, the All-Father would have noticed it," He looks around, daring anyone to disagree with him.

"The Tesseract sent out a magic blast, like I've never felt before. I was blast against a wall and when I opened my eyes, Loki was gone."

It is silent for a while before one of them opens his mouth.

"This immortality how does that work?" Bruce is wringing his hands together again but this time he looks more determined.

"It is said, that the Tesseract can take any amount of years from your body, your mind, however stays intact."

"Of course," Tony says, "If you wanna be immortal you don't want to lose the memories of your immortal life, now do you?" he chuckles like he's just said something funny but then realizes he's the only one laughing and quickly stops.

"But if that's the case, shouldn't Loki be able to remember everything? The only thing the tesseract would've taken would be years, not memories, right?" Bruce asks, glancing at Loki before looking at Thor again.

"Yes, normally but apparently something went wrong."

"Something went wrong? Nothing went wrong Thor! Isn't it obvious? Loki's just playing us!" Natasha says.

"You don't understand, Loki is a trickster but he would never sink this low. His pride would never allow it. And…" Thor hesitates "he called me brother. He hasn't done that since…" This time he did fall silent. Before anyone can protest or say something else they heard another voice, coming from the bed.

"Brother?" Loki sits up swinging his legs off the couch and putting his hand on his head, grimacing. The moment the Avengers realize he is awake they all stare at him. No one reacts as Clint stands up abruptly and stalks out of the room, followed by Natasha and Bruce, who obviously doesn't trust himself (or the 'other Guy') enough to stay in the same room with a conscious Loki. Loki seems surprised and curiosity fills his eyes but then he looks at Thor again.

"What has happened? Why are we on Midgard?"

"You can stop pretending!" Tony exclaims in an impatient voice, "No one's gonna believe this act anyway so you better drop the de it already!"

Loki looks genuinely confused but doesn't say anything, looking at Thor as if looking for guidance on how to react to this.

"Friend Stark and Captain America, maybe you should leave us, we have much to discuss." Tony feels the urge to tell Thor that this is his tower so that he can leave whenever he wants to but a very angry look coming from Thor stops him before he can open his mouth.

"Thor, maybe it's not such a good idea to leave you alone with him yet, we don't know whether this is a trick or not." surprisingly it's not Tony but Steve who utters the words. Thor just nods.

"Mind if I ask Jarvis to monitor his breathing and heartbeat? It's not a hundred percent trustworthy but that way we can see if he's lying or not." Tony asks, trying to sound reasonable.

"Lie?" Loki snorts, "Why would I lie to Thor? Unless it's about who turned his clothes pink?" Thors eyes light up for a second as if remembering that day fondly before sadness takes over again, those days are long behind them and he wishes they weren't but they are.

"Do whatever you think necessary." he says. Tony nods and looks up

"Jarvis?"

"Already on it sir," a British disembodied voice answers. Loki looks possibly spooked and is glancing around the room, trying to find the man behind the voice. Tony doesn't feel like explaining anything to the trickster and shrugs when he gets a questioning gaze directed to him from Loki.

"If his heart rate or breathing changes, I want to know it." he adds. Then silence falls once more and Steve seems to get the hint even though it was his idea, it's obvious everyone is waiting until he leaves so he does.

Once Captain Rogers is gone Thor starts to speak.

"What's the last thing you remember brother?"

Loki stops trying to find Jarvis.

"You somehow convinced me to help you sneak into mother's chambers, I am telling father you forced me by the way," he snaps quickly before continuing "and then you somehow managed to create an explosion, next thing I know I'm standing on Midgard and you look centuries older than you looked only a few seconds after I've just seen you. When did you get this old?" Not even a beep from Jarvis, so either Loki is a really really good liar and found a way around Jarvis (which Tony seriously doubts because Jarvis was made by him so he's almost flawless, duh) or he's telling the truth (also something Tony seriously doubts).

"You are certain brother? That id the last thing you remember?" Loki doesn't even hesitate one second. "Of course that's the last thing I remember, I did just tell you that didn't I? Did the potions thicken your skull brother?" he mocks, nudging Thor with his elbow. Thor doesn't react.

"I think my brother and I need some time alone," he says, his words obviously directed to Tony who sighs and stands up slowly.

"Fine, but you better watch out, I'm still not convinced." and with that he walks out of the room.

XxXxXxXxXx

Steve Rogers is officially confused as hell. Tony came 10 minutes ago with a big sigh

"We asked him some question and I had Jarvis check if he was lying. Not one beep, I honestly don't know what to believe right now." And the only thing Steve can do is agree with Stark. It is true, Loki does look like a kid and, well Steve isn't an expert but he looked really confused back in Central Park. He knows of course that Loki is basically the god of lying but still. If he was tricking them he had to give it to the guy, he'd be the best liar Steve has ever met. And that includes Natasha so that says a lot. Clint is holding his bow and looks ready and more than eager to storm back to the room Loki's in and shoot Thor's brother. Stark's just noticed this and immediately starts to complain

"No weapons in my tower!" he whines. "I've just had it rebuild! I like my tower the way I like all my other things! Whole, put it away hawky, this is my tower!" he threatens. Clint shoots him a look but lowers his bow.

"You left Thor alone with that monster? You don't actually believe any of this?" Tony sighs and shrugs

"Look the only thing I know is that from the moment one lie comes out of our favorite reindeer, I'll know about it and since Jarvis hasn't detected any lies from the moment the conversation started until now, that means Loki must be telling the truth."

"Unless he's a really good liar," Clint says "and he is the god of lies isn't he?"

"Look, it doesn't matter how good you are at lying, there is no lie that can't be detected by a system I build!" Tony's somehow managed to conjure up a bottle of whisky from out of nowhere and stops talking after filling a glass (also apparently, suddenly conjured up out of nothing) and sips from it. Before a discussion can be started on the reliability of things made by Tony Stark (one that would probably have ended horribly anyway) footsteps could be heard from the hallway. Two voices drifted to the kitchen, Steve could easily hear them.

"And you are certain they are your friends? They didn't look very friendly to me."

"I have a lot of explaining to do, to you but also to them, but let's just say some bad things happened and they don't trust you." Thor has never been one for subtlety, his loud voice the rather obvious proof. When the two demi-gods enter the kitchen the reactions are immediate. Barton doesn't waste a second and his arrow is pointing at Loki's head the moment he sets foot in the kitchen. Natasha is a little more subtle and her hand hovers close to the gun on her hip. Tony quickly gulps down the rest of the whisky and Steve shifts uncomfortably from where he's sitting at the kitchen table. Bruce takes a few steps back to make sure there's enough room between him and Loki.

Loki doesn't seem bothered by anyone's reaction but Barton's (granted, Barton is threatening his life and the rest of them are just acting really weird) he quickly steps behind Thor and sneers.

"Lovely friends you have, brother. I'm sure mother would be thrilled to meet them." He raises one eyebrow sarcastically while glancing at the arrow Barton's pointing at his head.

"Mind telling your friend, -Eye of hawk, isn't it? To lower his weapon?"

"Hey Robin Hood," Tony says "what did I say about weapons and exploding arrows? I don't want them in my tower!" Tony is waving his arms up and down but is ignored by Barton.

"Clint, lower your weapon, you don't want to do things you'll regret later." Natasha says calmly, almost as if she doesn't really care whether he'll listen to her or not (which is probably the case).

For a moment it looks like Barton is just going to ignore her, he doesn't lower his bow and he keeps staring at Loki, who is at the moment still hiding behind Thor. Thor just stands there, looking at Barton, eyes sending one very clear message: _If you shoot that arrow I will crush you_

Loki can practically feel the tension slip away after a few seconds and assumes that the mortal has indeed, lowered his weapon. He steps from behind Thor and glances at his brother. Before he can open his mouth to criticize Thor's taste in friends the red-haired woman speaks.

"Let's just assume Loki is telling the truth, what have you told him?" She inquires; hand still close to her gun but her stance would suggest that she meant no harm. Everyone in the kitchen ignores Barton, who's scoffing and crossing his arms.

"I told him that it's not me who has aged, but him who's been de-aged through experiments done on the Tesseract. I think it would be best to tell him everything later. When all of you finally realize this is not a trick and you can explain it to him yourselves."

"You want me to tell him what he's done wrong? Oh please, give me an hour or two?" Barton sneers.

Loki doesn't like the fact that they're talking about him like he isn't even there. He's also curious, what could he have possibly done, to make _all _of the people in this room so very angry with him? Thor's told him that he was around his age, not three-hundred but around 3100 maybe? A lot of things can happen in two-thousand-and-eight-hundred years, Loki knows that, but last thing he remembered the only time he has ever set foot on Midgard was fifty years ago because Thor wanted to meet some mortals and see if they were a match for his battle skills. Obviously they weren't and the trip hadn't taken that long.

"If it's all the same to you," he says, "I, personally, would feel a lot more inclined to listen to your list of things I've done…" For a moment there Loki doesn't know what tense to use, "or will do… if you put away that bow and your friend would stop her hand from hovering a few inches away from the device that is here apparently known as a gun?" He says the word 'gun' like it feels odd on his tongue.

Thor seems surprised that his little brother has spoken at all and in his eyes shines amusement like he finds the situation entertaining. _Easy for him to say, no one in this room looks like they'd like _his_ head on a plate._

To break the very awkward silence that has stretched between them for more than five minutes the man Loki knows as Man of Iron seems to have decided he'll try to lighten up the mood.

"So until we know Rudolph here isn't lying, what do we do? Start braiding each other's hair and tell the newest gossip?"

Loki is confused by the word 'Rudolph' but doesn't react upon it; he does see the reaction of everyone else in the room though. Eye of hawk has decided he can't stand to be in this room anymore and stalks away from Loki for the second time that day, again followed by the woman. However, the man, whose name is 'Healer Banner" according to Thor, stays. Loki doesn't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

"Look, friend Stark I understand your confusion and suspicion but you have to trust me. I'm going to Asgard right now to sort things out, I have no doubt that the All-Father already knows what has transpired here on earth and that he and I have much to discuss."

"Perfect!" Stark exclaims, "You can take your brother with you and sort it all out, far away from my newly rebuilt tower and its recovering city, Ney York!" He's clapping with his hands and walks over to Thor to clap him on the back giving him a not so gentle push towards the door.

"I don't think you understand, Loki can't come, we managed to hide the fact that he wasn't in his cell when we were working with him on the Tesseract from the people of Asgard but after this… incident there's no way the Aesir won't notice it if Loki comes with me. The people of Asgard are still angry and if they weren't they'll certainly be now, he isn't safe in Asgard and-"

"Wait, don't finish that, if you were going to say that I should let him stay in Stark tower then please for the love of-" Tony seems at loss about what to say but then after a quick glance at Rogers he continues "America! Don't finish that sentence!" Both Captain Rogers and Thor are looking utterly confused for a moment before both shake it off.

"Stark, you can't deny that earth _owes_ Thor big time and even if Loki's lying, he's in the body of a twelve-year-old, I think we can handle it, right?" Loki has given up on trying to figure out what they're talking about half of the time. Since when did the Midgardians owe Thor anything? Those must have been some _really_ busy tw-thousand-and-eight-hundred years that he forgot.

"I'm sorry friends but you don't have a choice. I have to go to Asgard and Loki can't come with me. If he has to he'll stay in the guest room the whole time." Thor says already walking towards the door. Loki wants to object to that because he honestly doesn't want to stay in that weirdly white room when Thor's gone but he doesn't. Thor had already explained to him why Loki couldn't come with him. He had also said that it would be unwise to provoke the humans for although Loki remembers them as being rather weak, these particular humans obviously weren't. Before any of the people in Starks kitchen can object Thor already stand on the balcony and has started swinging Mjolnir too. In only two seconds flat he thrusts the hammer forward and then he's gone.

Loki doesn't fancy being in the same room as Thor's "friends" when Thor isn't there to stop them from trying to kill him he quickly turns around to go look for that guest room Thor had talked about not a few minutes ago, while walking he can vaguely hear the man of iron mutter something under his breath.

"_Great, this is all just GREAT!"_

**What do you think? Only 3000 words this time. I'm not really sure I like how it turned out. I especially love the scenes with Clint and Loki in one room! Please review/comment to say what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three! I really enjoy writing this story and I hope you like reading it! If you do please remember to leave a review/comment! Again English is not my native language therefore mistakes will be unavoidable. **

Captain America tries wrapping his head around it. Right now he's watching Loki, sitting in the guest room Stark has assigned him to. He still thinks it's invading privacy that Tony apparently even has cameras in guest rooms but right now he's relieved about it. He knows that he is one of the few who'll actually watch over Loki right now, Tony is still angry because Clint downright refuses to let go of his bow since Loki is still in the tower. Bruce looks like he actually wants to look over Loki even if it's just because he thinks it kind of fascinating that his enemy is now a child. He obviously wants to find out more but is afraid (with good reason) that he won't be able to control the Other Guy, even if he's just watching. Natasha and Clint don't need explaining, duh. And with Thor gone that only leaves. Steve.

Thor had said he wanted _them to_ tell Loki everything, easier said than done. He glances at the screen again, so far Loki has done nothing but sitting on the bed, swinging his legs, looking deep in thought. None of the Avengers had had any decent sleep last night, with their former arch-enemy sleeping in the same building as them and, now that Steve is thinking about it, Loki hadn't eaten anything. Stark had somehow managed to make one of his robots bring Loki food but the demi-god hadn't even touched it. Now, Steve Rogers is no expert, he doesn't know whether Norse gods need food to survive on earth. He has heard that Thor had needed food when he was banished but then, he hadn't had his godly powers and had been just a very strong mortal. It was just so very confusing and no one had ever bothered to tell Steve how it all worked. _But_ Steve decides after pondering over it for a very long time _it can't be healthy, even for a god, not to eat. _And of course, if Loki dies of malnutrition then Thor will come back to earth and kill them. It's still early in the morning so it's time for breakfast. He takes the food the robot was about to bring to Loki and walks towards the guest room. The robot doesn't seem to mind and turns around, to do, whatever little robots do.

By the time Steve reaches Loki's room he realizes he has no idea what to say to him.

_Hi there, you better eat this food because if you don't Thor will come to earth and kick my ass._

After a few seconds of standing outside Loki's door and still not knowing what to say, the door suddenly opens. Loki peeks through and seems surprised.

"What are you doing?" he asks. At first Steve doesn't know what to say, dumbstruck, he feels stupid for standing there like an idiot.

"I noticed you haven't eaten anything since you arrived on earth." He says

"I don't need your food," Loki says, glancing at the plat in Steve's hands, a look of suspicion and then it hits him. Loki thinks they're going to poison him. Because why else would he not eat? Why else would he keep glancing at the food with a look of mistrust and perhaps fear? Why else would he only open the door just enough for him to stick his head out.

"But our food is really good!" Steve tries, only now he really looks at what's on the plate, waffles. You can say a lot of things about Tony Stark but he did know how to treat his guests.

Suddenly a thought comes to him, Asgardians probably don't have waffles maybe that's why Loki's so suspicious?

"These are waffles, they're amazing and you should eat something while Thor's away." Loki possibly _glares _at him.

"I know what waffles are, friend of Thor and I do not need them." The lie is obvious that Steve wonders how Loki ever became the God of Lies.

He decides to try something else. "Thor said to me I had to make sure you'd eat." That does have an effect. Loki seems happy that Thor has thought about him and hesitantly opens the door.

"Fine." He says begrudgingly. Once the door is open he steps back and quickly sits on the bed. Steve's relieved Loki doesn't need more encouragement but the fact that Loki now seems to trust Thor gives him food to think. The adult Loki would surely have refused even more fiercely when hearing Thor's name. Steve quickly steps inside and decides it's better if he leaves the door open, that way Loki won't feel threatened. He's still not convinced this is all a trick but if he has to he'll play along until he's sure of the truth. He sets the plate down on the table before Loki and sits down on a chair by that same table. Loki seems confused by this.

"Look I'm not going to attack you, I'm just here to take the plate back with me once you've finished. Loki doesn't seem convinced and watches him through narrowed eyes.

"If you think bringing me Midgardian food will bring you in good graces with Thor then I must disappoint you." He says while picking up the fork and knife. He's still watching the Captain as if he expects him to suddenly attack.

Steve is a bit confused; he has no idea how to react to something like that. Does Loki think that Steve is just bringing him food to get Thor to like him? Not because he's worried that Loki _needs_ food? Of course there's a little bit truth behind that statement. He is bringing Loki food because if he doesn't Thor would be mad but still that's not the only reason, even if Thor wouldn't be mad, Captain America wouldn't let anyone starve to death. Not even his enemy.

"I just want to make sure you eat, you haven't eaten anything in two days, I don't care if you're practically a god, it can't be healthy." Steve shrugs, trying to sound like it's only logical and he's not having a conversation with the guy who tried to take over earth.

Again Loki's not convinced. When he's done he pushes the plate away as if he can't stand to be too close it. Steve stands up and is just about to leave when Loki speaks up.

"Wait," Steve turns around, Loki is looking at him, he doesn't look afraid anymore.

"Thor said one of you has to explain to me what happened. When are you planning to do that?" he says, looking Steve in the eyes, a determined look on his face but Steve can see the doubt. He can see Loki _wants_ to know (assuming this isn't him being an excellent actor) but he's also afraid of what he might hear.

Steve sighs, "I don't know, I think that if we do, all of us will." With that he turns back around, leaves the room and closes the door behind him. Captain America really doesn't know whether any of the Avengers will want to tell Loki because none of them believe he's telling the truth. But while he's walking he knows he's starting to believe Loki, he's not entirely sure yet but he's starting to doubt that this is all one big scheme.

XxXxXxXxXx

Loki is bored. He's been sitting here for hours and nothing has happened. These so called friends of Thor hadn't even given him a book to read and let's face it Loki's just 300, he's still just a kid and he wants to do something, _anything_ that doesn't involve sitting on the bed of the guest room of a gigantic tower for hours with nothing to keep him busy.

He knows it's a bad idea to go outside, but he won't go far and he'll make sure no one sees him. He'll just go look for the library, find some interesting books to read and return to this room before they even notice he's gone. With that in mind he slides of the bed and opens his door. The door is slightly ajar, just enough so that Loki can check if the hallway is clear. When he's certain it is he quietly opens the door and sneak out trying to be as silent as possible. He's decided he won't use any magic, he doesn't know these people and maybe they have a way to know when he's using magic. He doesn't want to take that risk, so he'll just have to rely on his other skills. He doesn't even know where to go but after some internal debate chooses to go right. On his left there's a door, closed but he hear someone's inside, talking. Loki creeps towards the door and tries to listen to what the person is saying.

"Thor has left us no other choice sir. Earth owes him a lot and I assume this is only temporary, as soon as Thor gets back from Asgard he'll take the war-criminal with him." It's the woman and she sounds like she's not entirely convinced that what he she says is actually going to happen. _War-criminal?_ Loki wonders. _Is she talking about me?_ _There hasn't been a war since the battle with the Frost Giants._ He can hear the woman is still talking but it's much quieter now and Loki doesn't understand what she's saying so he continues his search for the library. He knows it's only been a few seconds since he's left his room so he still has time to properly look for the library. He just hopes there actually is a library in this building. Before he can take another step however he bumps into something, or rather someone. The man who calls himself Man made of Iron is standing there, only he doesn't look like he's made of iron, he looks like a normal mortal. He looks just as surprised to see Loki here as Loki is to see him. Before the man can open his mouth Loki decides it's best to just tell the guy the truth.

"I was just looking for the library," he says "I was bored in your guest room and simply thought some distraction from this boredom was needed." He tries to sound polite because Thor told him to be nice to these people but it's hard, they're mortals and they're not even nice ones.

The man still looks flabbergasted. "JARVIS? Why wasn't I warned that LOKI is running around freely in my tower?" After that a string of curses follow and he looks possibly murderous. The person he was referring to as 'Jarvis' does not answer and Loki's wondering if the man has lost his mind because there's no one else here besides him.

Before he can say anything else a door opens and the red-haired woman steps into the hallway.

"What's all this fuss about?" she says, gun in her hand. Then she sees Loki.

"You let him wander around the tower Stark?" she sneers pointing her gun at the general direction of Loki's head. He honestly doesn't understand why everyone's reacting like this. He just explained didn't he? He was just looking for the library he wasn't planning murder or anything. He hadn't even pranked anyone yet and it already seemed they mistrusted him more, than anyone he's ever pranked before. Whatever he had done in the last two-thousand-and-eight-hundred years it certainly hadn't made him very popular.

"I apologize for the problems I've caused you. I did not realize leaving the room would have an effect like this. I shall return immediately." He sighs. He just wanted to find a book to read, he honestly doesn't know what was wrong with that but, as he now found out, it is something he isn't supposed to do. From what he gathers, he now knows that he isn't even allowed to leave his room. He turns around to leave but sees someone is blocking his path. He doesn't really care who it is, what does it matter? They'd just start to scream he wasn't supposed to be here anyway.

"Excuse me, could you move aside, I cannot pass this way." He says, the person doesn't move so Loki steps to the right himself to let whoever is blocking his path, pass. Only he doesn't. Loki glances up, it was the same guy that had brought him his breakfast. The Captain.

"What's happening out here?" The Captain asks. Loki just shrugs and expects the Man of Iron or the re-haired woman to answer the question but they don't. He quickly glances at their direction and the looks on their faces would have been hilarious in different circumstances. They look possibly flabbergasted, even more so than when they had seen him in the hallway not a few minutes ago.

"I was just returning to my room," Loki says before trying to pass again and failing (again). Now both the woman and the man behind him seem to have woken up from their frozen state.

"Why don't you go with him, capsicle," The male mortal says. "To make sure he _actually_ returns to his room."

_I have never met more paranoid, untrusting beings ever. And I've met quite a lot of creatures._

Loki thought angrily. It wasn't fair! He didn't even know what he had done to earn such contempt and distrust. And they wouldn't even tell him! But he couldn't say that out loud. He was in their territory right now and with Thor away to Asgard he doesn't think it wise to provoke them. Still he didn't like the way they were treating him so before he left with the Captain he wouldn't stop himself from sneering at them.

"I was just looking for a book, you know. I wasn't trying to kill you all in your sleep!" and with that he walks away, back to that boring guest room.

XxXxXxXxXx

Clint Barton wants to murder someone. Preferably, Loki but if he's not around, some other bad guy will do as well. He's standing next not Natasha in Stark's gigantic living room. They're all standing except for Tony who's sitting on his couch sipping at some scotch. Barton is furious. They let that monster walk freely in the tower. If it had been Barton who had found Loki he would've killed him on the spot. The only thing that had stopped him before was the fact that he didn't have an excuse and he couldn't just kill Loki with Thor practically glaring at him. After Thor left it had been clear that the only way Barton could kill Loki with the minimal wrath of Thor was when Loki slipped up or stepped out of line. Then he had an excuse, something to cool Thor's rage when he found out Barton had killed his little brother. Now he had missed a perfectly good excuse.

"Why do we even allow him a room? He should be rotting in a cell, without food and water, preferably." He grunts glaring at Tony Stark and yes even at Natasha because, hell she could've shot that demon but she hadn't.

"You know why, Thor would kill us if we did that." Steve answers.

"Yeah right, and Loki WILL kill us if he gets the chance and we're practically throwing opportunities at him!" Barton snarls, he really doesn't have the patience for this. He knows this is everything but professional. But they _have_ him, unarmed and completely helpless and instead of dealing justice they're standing here with Loki not five yards away from them. Loki _killed_ Coulson. He had killed the very man who had brought Barton into SHIELD. The man who had taken him in and had been more of father than his real dad had ever been.

"We should at least put a lock on that door." Natasha says, looking uncomfortable which is unusual for her.

"A lock? We should chain him up!" Barton crosses his arms, he ignores the fact that it probably looks weird, with a bow in one hand.

"I don't know Barton," Steve says, "I don't think Loki is tricking us. He really doesn't act like he did when he invaded earth. He really looks sincere and he truly looks confused whenever we mention what he did."

"It's called acting!" Barton says sarcasm clear in his voice. "I can't believe you're all falling for this. This is the guy who killed hundreds of people! Innocent people! Tasha," he says. But when he sees her face he sees doubt. _She's staring to believe that monster?_

"He _killed_ Coulson!" at this point he's almost yelling, anger taking over and years of training forgotten for a fleeting moment before all of that training kicks in again and he calms down.

"I'm not saying I believe him, Barton. I'm just not sure what to believe right now. Captain rogers is right, when he spoke in the hallway he sounded sincere, he sounded like a confused twelve-year-old who doesn't understand what's going on. Look I'm not telling you to trust him, I'm telling you to start looking at this professionally instead of personally. If you keep going on like this Barton, you're going to be compromised." And he knows that what's she's saying is true. That doesn't mean he _likes_ it. That doesn't mean he'll actually do what she says because he can't. But he can pretend he does. He can pretend he agrees but he'll always make sure to keep an eye on that little monster.

_One wrong move and he's a dead man._

XxXxXxXxXx

There's nothing but darkness, no light shines where the Chitauri live unless their master wills it so. The being known as the Other is looking at the only source of light in the entire realm. He's searching the universe, he searching Ygdrasill's roots, he's looking for the Trickster God, the liesmith, the Sly One, whatever name you preferred. He is looking for Loki, the Jotunn who had failed the Chitauri and almost destroyed them because their master wills it because their master has promised the Father of Lies:

_If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he cannot find you. You think you know pain? He will make you long for something as sweet as pain._

He does not have the Tesseract. The Trickster has failed Him and now he shall pay the price. The Other is looking and when he finds him he immediately informs his master.

"Master!"

Thanos does not even blink He thinks the Other just a useful tool but not worthy of His attention. The next sentence does make him look down at his servant, from where he's seated on his throne.

"We found him."

**What do you think? Is it an overused plotline? Yes. Do I have any idea where this is going? No. Can you give some ideas? Yes. Pleas review/comment! **

**xxTheAlgea**


	4. Chapter 4

**Still not sure where this is going but there are so many possibilities! In this chapter I'll make Loki more grown-up than you'd expect for a twelve (or eight-hundred)-year-old. He's based on the Loki of Journey Into Mystery (since I'm currently reading those comics)**

It had been two days since the library incident and Tony Stark would be lying if he denied he started to like the kid. By now all of them had established that even if this was all a trick they would be able to handle Loki in the body of a twelve-year-old in Stark Tower. Loki had been given some books the day after the little misunderstanding and Loki hadn't done anything suspicious except _thanking _them, which had been rather awkward because no one really expected a sign of gratitude from their enemy because they brought him some books. Since Loki hadn't mentioned anything specific they had settled upon 'Shakespeare's Sonnets' and 'Great Expectations". That very same day while Tony had been working Jarvis had interrupted him.

'Sir, Loki requests if you could come to his room since he is not allowed to leave it himself." Tony really hadn't liked that.

"Why can't Steve go? Or Natasha?" (the other two had been left out of that question for very obvious reasons)

"Mr. Rogers is jogging and miss Romanoff is with Mr. Barton." okay so the AI did have a good reason for not calling someone else but still, Tony didn't like it.

"What does he want?" Tony had asked. Turns out Loki is a big fan of Shakespeare and the only thing he had wanted was more books. Tony being a fan of Shakespeare himself (although he would never admit it to anyone) hadn't been able to stop himself from talking with Loki about it. Before he knew it they had a full on sonnet battle and were quite enjoying themselves. Only when he had left Loki's room he had realized he had been talking to his enemy for hours and nothing bad had happened at all! And he had to admit it to himself. Young Loki was not as bad as he thought he'd be. After setting some of his prejudices aside (not all of them he still was cautious) he found out he actually starts to like the kid. Of course he wouldn't say that out loud to anyone. Barton still refuses to let go of his bow (or at least his knives).

XxXxXxXxXx

Bruce Banner doesn't know what to do. He wants to find out about Loki but to do that he has to be in his close proximity. Now last time that happened the Other Guy had pounded Loki into Stark's floor (something he was certain of Tony still hadn't forgiven him for) so he was having an internal debate. Maybe he should take someone with him but then if the Other Guy came out that someone might get hurt. Like all of the Avengers he really wanted to know whether Loki was lying or not. Now Bruce Banner is a man of science and Steve and Natasha can say they think Loki's telling the truth, there only one way Bruce will actually believe it, when he asks Loki himself. But like previously stated, it was easier said than done.

It takes Bruce the whole morning before he finally decides to go to Loki's room. He ends up in front of Loki's door way too fast for his liking. Not sure what to do next he hesitantly knocks. The door opens rather slowly and Loki's head pops up from behind it. When he sees the scientist his eyes widen before he narrows them.

"Can I help you with something, Healer Banner?" He asks, with eyebrows raised skeptically.

"No… I mean yes, I mean you can't really help me but-" Bruce really isn't good at this. Loki has opened the door more know and Bruce can't help but notice the book lying on the table.

_Hamlet_

"-You read Shakespeare?"

Loki doesn't seem surprised.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do. However I am quite certain you are not here to talk about Hamlet or am I mistaken?" Loki takes a step back and opens the door fully, beckoning the doctor to come in.

"No, you're right that's not the reason why I came here." Bruce says stepping into the room and wringing his hands together.

"I assume you are here for a reason. One that has something to do with the missing millennia from my memory. If you are then I am afraid I must disappoint you, for I do not remember anything." He says it so lightly, like it doesn't really bother him. Bruce is no expert when it comes to social skills, or when people are lying, spotting tells but he can see Loki does care. That he's wrestling with it, it's obvious that he really wants to know what has happened (that is if you assume he's not manipulating everyone into thinking he doesn't remember, why does everything has to be so complicated?)

"So you really don't remember anything?" Bruce asks, because he has no idea what to say otherwise.

"As I have told Thor, the Captain of America and the Man made of Iron several times: I do not." Is it Bruce or does he sound bitter?

"I do not know what you want me to do? Do you want me to lie and tell you that I do remember because I don't!" Yep definitely bitter.

"No, it's not that, it's just, difficult to believe all of this, with everything that has happened-"

"WHAT happened?" No not bitter, full-out angry. "You, _friends_ of Thor keep referring to _whatever_ happened in the few millennia I don't remember! I don't KNOW what happened, but if you Midgardians just told me I-" He suddenly cuts himself, turning around, with his back to Bruce.

"I don't remember so you might as well leave." He says before he grabs Hamlet again, plops on the bed and starts reading like nothing's happened. Bruce might not be best in getting hints but he gets this one he stands up and leaves the room, closing the door behind him, deep in thought. Even if Loki's lying, telling him what happened wouldn't do any harm. Maybe he'd talk to Tony when they're working together.

XxXxXxXxXx

"I don't agree to this!" Of course it's Clint, who else would it be?

"Look, it won't do any harm, if he's lying and tricking us then what harm would it do, just telling him what he already knows?" It's Steve, naturally for some reason Steve seems to be the one who has developed some kind of fondness for Loki. Of course so has Tony but he doesn't want anyone to know that while Steve doesn't seem to have a problem with just that.

"With all due respect, agent Barton but your vision is clouded by the thought of revenge." Steve says calmly. Tony can see it frustrates Barton to no end that what Steve is saying is true and before anyone can stop him he's already stalked out of the room with angry long strides.

"I'm with Captain Spandex on this one, telling Loki isn't going to cause any harm." Steve is just rolling his eyes at the nickname and Natasha nods.

"Fine but who's going to tell him? Obviously not Hawkeye." She sighs glancing in the direction her colleague has disappeared.

Both Tony and Bruce are looking at the obvious choice and after a while so is Natasha. Steve just nods. "Fine I'll tell him." He says before standing up and walking towards Loki's room that leaves the other three standing there, in the kitchen in an awkward silence.

"Who wants to watch a movie?" Tony exclaims.

"I better check on Clint," Natasha says and then she stalks away. That only leaves on victim and Bruce isn't fast enough to run nor can he make up some acceptable excuse so he ends up watching something called "The Matrix" with Tony.

XxXxXxXxXx

Steve ignores the sudden very loud shooting noises coming from Stark's living room and focuses on Loki who's sitting on the bed before him. He's swinging his legs impatiently waiting for Steve to start talking.

"Look I'm going to start at the beginning and the only things I know, Thor told me so I'm sorry if it isn't very clear." Steve really doesn't know how to start but when he does he realizes this is going to be much easier than he expected, at first. He starts with the crowning ceremony and the little trip to Jotunheim Loki and Thor had taken. When he gets to the banishment he can see Loki flinch. But then comes the really difficult part, the part where Odin tells Loki he's a Frost Giant. He has stopped his story just before it happens and hesitates, unsure of how to continue.

"I assume this is the part where my true heritage is revealed?" Loki says to his surprise.

"Wait, you know about that?" Is the only things Steve can say.

"Thor told me." Loki shrugs casting his eyes downward. "It's not important, finish the story." Steve really doesn't know how to react to _that_. Loki knew because Thor told him and here he was saying that it wasn't important. Steve wants to know more, what else has Thor told him but he cut off before he can ask anything.

"It is not relevant right now," Loki's looking at Steve again, in the eye. "Continue." So Steve does. He talks about the Destroyer and eventually he comes to the part where Loki falls from the Bifrost, that does provoke a reaction.

"Wait, I fell from the Bifrost?" Loki asks, he looks deep in thought. "Yes." Steve says and before he can continue because he finds this rather awkward Loki speaks again.

"But if I have fallen from the Bifrost I fell into the rift?"

"A what now?" Steve can't follow this anymore, he can barely remember the names of the nine world (okay he can't he only know Asgard, Midgard and the tree Ygdrassil).

"A rift, the destruction of Jotunheim and me falling from the Bifrost must have opened the Void." He explains waving with his left hand like it's nothing, he's deep in thought again before he realizes that Steve has absolutely no clue of what he's talking about.

"The void," he repeats. "You could say it's the Space-In-Between."

_Yeah sure, now I get it _Steve thinks sarcastically and his look apparently says so too because Loki continues.

"You have the Nine Worlds, connected to Ygdrassil but there is… space, there are places that are not part of this universe, it's the unknown space between the roots and branches of Ygdrassil." He tries. Well now Steve can follow, sort off. Deciding to pretend he understands Steve nods. That seems to satisfy Loki it doesn't make him stop talking though.

"But if I fell into the Void I must have died, no one survives there…"

"Well you did, congratulations because this story isn't finished yet." Steve says. Loki falls silent and listens to Steve again but it seems like his mind is somewhere else until he mentions the Chitauri and the Other.

"Wait, what?" Loki has been jostled awake by the word Chitauri it would seem.

"The Chitauri, as in the _warrior race_?" he asks. Steve doesn't know what other Chitauri there are so he just decides to shrug and nod. "They looked like warriors to me."

"And you said they were led by whom?"

"Well, _you_ I guess."

_This is turning awkward_

"No you said they were under the command of someone called 'The Other'?" Loki asks jumping from the bed like he's excited about something or at least has found something that has interested him?

"Yeah but-"

"You must be mistaking," Loki says tilting his head, making him look like a dog who doesn't understand something. It only makes Steve want to believe him more because he really does look cute doing that.

"The Chitauri are led by Thanos, their Lord, he who held the Infinity Gauntlet and sought once to destroy everything." It sounds like Loki is reciting some kind of ancient text. "But the Gauntlet is in Asgard and he should not possess any of the Infinity Gems, all of them were shattered across the universe. Some of them destroyed permanently." Loki pauses and looks up to the Captain once again.

"Tell me the name of the item he sought."

"You mean the Tesseract? I-" Loki doesn't even listen anymore he cuts Steve's sentence short.

"Skip the rest of the story Captain, did the Chitauri get a hold on the Tesseract?"

"No they didn't we managed to avoid that it's in Asgard right now." At that Loki looks relieved.

"I'm sorry for interrupting," he says.

"I don't understand," Steve says (the same thing he has thought about a hundred times already in the past hour) "If Thanos is the real leader, why didn't Thor tell us?"

Loki's head is now if possible, very red.

"I might or might not have created an illusion to cover for Thor the day we were given that lesson. He was out hunting and had asked me to do so." He's looking down again and shuffling his feet. Steve has to suppress a smile at that. It showed that once Loki and Thor _had_ been brothers and that there had been a time they cared for each other. He clears his throat before continuing.

By the time he's finished Loki is pale and his lip is trembling.

"How many… How many people did I kill?" He asks. Steve should be shocked that he hasn't even asked about the Frost Giants, that he hasn't even batted an eyelash when he had told him about destroying their world and killing them all. But he remembers Thor telling them about how they were raised. What they had been told about the Frost Giants so he decides to just ignore it for now.

"Hundreds? More? I don't know, you hurt a lot of people, Loki" Steve says. And only now he realizes that he has forgotten that he should mistrust Loki and that this all might have been a trick because it hasn't even crossed his mind once when he had been talking and also not when Loki had been talking.

Loki looks up but when he does, his lip isn't trembling anymore. He looks confused but that's it. There's no guilt and for that for one moment Steve is angry. Doesn't he feel anything? No regret? No guilt for all the people he has hurt and it must have showed in his face because Loki scrambles back. Steve can't help himself, he has to ask:

"Don't you feel any guilt? Or regret?"

Loki looks away again fidgeting with the sheets between his fingers.

"I told you Captain, I don't remember anything. I know I should feel guilty but I don't _remember_. I don't know what you want me to say Captain, I don't know how I feel it's all just so confusing I'm three-hundred Captain and you are talking about deed I have done but only more than two-thousand years in the future! I don't know how I feel Captain, I don't-" he tries to hide the tears shimmering in his eyes but he fails and then he starts to sob. Quietly, like he's ashamed and Steve understands. Because Steve knows what it feels like to be out of time. He knows that it's confusing and disorienting and people keep telling you what has happened but you don't know how to feel because whatever has happened you weren't there, or in Loki's case, he doesn't remember. And the Captain immediately regrets his actions his outburst because it's not fair to be angry right now. Because he can't expect Loki to feel guilt for something he doesn't remember doing, not immediately. Maybe later, when Loki actually is able to sort things out, maybe _then_ it would be fair to Loki to expect regret and guilt but not now. At that moment Captain America doesn't care that it may all be a grand scheme to kill them all because at that moment Loki looks like a scared twelve-year-old who's confused as hell and has no idea what to do next. It make Steve want to hug him but he doesn't because it's still _Loki_ and also because Steve has no idea how Loki would react to it so Steve does the next best thing: he leaves the room to let Loki think and sort things out because Steve knows that's what Loki need right now. It's what he had needed back when he had woken up only to find out he'd been asleep for _years_…

XxXxXxXxXx

Loki lets out a sigh of relief when the Captain finally leaves. He needs some time to think, alone. Everything the Captain's told him has horrified him. He'd never try to kill Thor, yes sometimes he was an idiotic oaf and he could be so very irritating but he was still his friend. _Not brother _he thinks. But then he hates himself for even thinking such a thing. But it's true, Loki's a Frost Giant, a monster…_No don't think about that, anything but that_

The Captain had said that Loki had tried to kill Thor with the destroyer and after that (and after falling in the Void) had tried to take over Midgard, claiming that the Midgardians were made to be ruled but Loki had never given the Midgardians much thought. They were there, just like all the other living beings were in the Nine Worlds and he doesn't even want to rule them. Just like the Jotuns do,

_No! Focus, Loki, focus!_

If he's honest with himself he doesn't even want the throne of Asgard because no one really likes him or wants him to be. What good is a throne when everyone you rule hates you? Thor could have the throne for all Loki cares, Thor was much more popular anyway. _Thor_, how could he still claim to love him? How could he even stand the sight of Loki? If what the captain had said was true (and he knows it is) than Thor should have killed Loki when given the chance for he had betrayed him and tried to murder him. For he had killed hundreds of innocent people just for some stupid throne he didn't really want.

But something didn't seem right, the way Captain Rogers had said it had ended. From the stories and lessons Loki had had he had learned quite a few things about the Chitauri. First of there were billions of them. Now he didn't know much about these radio-active rackets but he did know that if Thanos was behind it the Chitauri never could have lost like that. Midgard was a weak force, there was no reason for Thanos to station all his troops in one place just for Midgard. It didn't add up. The Tesseract is a very powerful item but it is not part of the Infinity Gems so why would Thanos want it? He doesn't have time to ponder about it though (because everything's better than to think about the lives he's destroyed or how he has betrayed Thor) because his door literally flies open, he doesn't know what's happening but then he sees an arrow, (again) pointed at his head (again) and the Eye of Hawk with a murderous look on his face (again).

**Yes, again with the cliffhanger but I must warn you, the next chapter's cliffhanger will be much worse! Please review/comment I literally check my mail every two minutes to see if I have any reviews/comments at all!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm so psyched for the part with Hawkeye and Loki in one room! This scene has been going through my head multiple times so I hope you like it! Please comment/review also you can read this story on too :)**

The only thing missing for this to be a dramatic scene from some thriller movie is smoke rising from the ground and enveloping Hawkeye, of course there was no smoke that kind of thing only happened in movies and movies weren't real.

The look on Barton's face _is _though. His hands are trembling and his knuckles white, he looks like he's going to lose it any time and _that _Loki thought _does not bode well for me_.

"So," Barton spits through gritted teeth "Steve told you everything and you don't seem to be a bit remorseful. Do you remember now?"

Loki has two options. Pretending he does remember (but he doesn't so that would go wrong very easy and quick) or tell the truth (which would probably be like signing his death warrant too). Neither of those option seem very appealing but since the truth seems to be the option that will get him killed the least quick he decides to go with the truth.

"I do not remember but yes, the Captain told me everything." _Including what I apparently did to you._

"You _don't_ remember? You're telling me you don't remember killing all those people? KILLING agent Coulson?" If the arrow could have been drawn back more, it would have, his arms are trembling with the strain.

Loki doesn't know how to answer to that. What would be the answer to not get him killed? Or not immediately at least. Since he really doesn't know what to say next he decides to just not say anything, maybe that will win him some time. Hopefully enough time for someone to notice that Hawkeye is missing and to get him the heck out of Loki's room before he fires that arrow.

"You took my mind, you took my free will away from me, you forced me to kill innocent people! You used me like a puppeteer does his puppets and now you want me to believe you don't remember doing all of that?" Loki can see he's trying to restrain himself but it's not working that well. Loki's trying to subtly inch away but he's not stupid enough to try to inch towards the door (though he wishes that was an option).

"You used the Tesseract to open a portal to let the Chitauri wreak havoc on New York and kill hundreds of people. Oh and because you used the Tesseract to take over my mind I have been tormented by nightmares and guilt for what _you _made me do!" Loki still doesn't remember but something inside of him makes him feel like he knows what the man who's threatening his life is talking about. He _knows_ that the Tesseract never lets you go, that once you've been enslaved by it you'll never be the same person again because the Tesseract is like a snake, once it has its prey it won't let go until the prey is dead. And he doesn't know how he knows he just does. Loki also knows that telling Eye of Hawk this information won't help his situation so he keeps quiet.

"You know, everyone else seems to be buying you little…act but I'm not. I know what you are, you're a monster and just because you don't look like one now doesn't mean you aren't." Loki's face must have showed his fear because suddenly Barton lowers his bow and _smiles_.

"So let me make this clear, _Loki_, if you slip up, if you give me even the smallest reason to think you'll hurt someone you won't have to bother to pretend anymore because I will end your life, right then and there." The look on the man's face leaves no doubt that what he says is exactly what he'll do, he'll kill Loki the moment he has the chance to.

XxXxXxXxXx

"So how did our reindeer react?" It's Tony of course. Even Bruce is looking at Steve, looking a little bit too happy to not be in the room alone with Tony Stark anymore. The film is still playing and the noise hurts Steve's ears. There's a lot of shooting going on there.

"He didn't say much." Steve answers. "I don't think he's trying to trick us. He's really confused about all of this and-" Before he can finish what he is saying, Natasha suddenly practically runs into the living room.

"Have you seen Barton?" She asks, scanning the room quickly and when she sees he's not here she directs her gaze at the three of them. She looks concerned.

"Legolas? I thought you were with him, Arwen?" Tony snickers and then he sips from his scotch again (seriously where does he keep those?)

"He was, we were on the roof but I turn my back on him for two minutes next thing I know he's gone."

She hasn't even finished her sentence yet when Steve's already turned around and runs out of the room. Both Bruce and Tony share a look for two milliseconds before coming to the same conclusion Steve had before them.

_Loki_

XxXxXxXxXx

Steve doesn't know if he's ever sprinted this fast in his life, he doesn't even bother opening any door but just storms right through them and hopes he can get there in time. While he's running he doesn't even think about the fact that Thor would be angry if Barton killed Loki, the only thing he thinks about is that he's concerned about Loki. He _cares_ about him and that's also the moment he just accepts that he cares about his former enemy and that he actually believes Loki. And then he crashes into the very man he was looking for: Clint Barton.

Neither of them expects to collide with each other so they both lose their balance and slide across the floor for a few seconds, both a bit dazed.

"What are you doing?" Clint asks while rubbing his head and grabbing his bow.

Steve glances next to Clint and can see Loki's room not two feet away, the door open.

"What were you doing in Loki's room?" He bites, not wanting to apologize because, hello he's lying on the ground to you know?

"That's none of your business, Captain but if you must know I just visited him. He's still alive if that's what you're wondering." Steve doesn't know where this anger suddenly comes from but it's there. He doesn't realize it yet but he feel some kind of protectiveness towards Loki, because right now he's a child and Barton is an adult who's just threatened an unarmed child. He ignores the little voice in his head telling him that that child had almost destroyed New York a few months prior.

"Never thought you'd be _this_ naïve, Captain that you believe your enemy when he's clearly tricking you." Barton stands up and is almost run over by someone for the second time that day but he's quick enough to move out of the way in time. Steve doesn't even have time to be surprised that it's Tony who's running the fastest because Tony just runs right past them to Loki's room and disappears inside. Both Bruce and Natasha do stop in front of Barton.

"Did you do anything stupid?" Natasha bites to her colleague.

"Tasha?" Clint says this time looking really angry. "I can't believe you're falling for this as well, you're all a bunch of idiots!" and with that he stalks away leaving Steve, Bruce and Natasha standing there in a now empty hallway.

XxXxXxXxXx

Tony doesn't care that he looks ridiculous because he's running the fastest or that he's the only one that's run to Loki's room while the others are still standing in the Hallway with Clint. He just hopes Clint hasn't killed Loki, he just hopes Loki is alright and at that moment he doesn't even care to deny that he's beginning to care for Loki. That the little demi-god has grown on him because he worried and because he has other things than his image to worry about right now. He almost runs past Loki's room but he manages to grab the doorpost and almost trips in his haste to get inside. He doesn't expect Loki to sit on the bed however with a shocked expression on his face, looking alive and healthy as ever.

"Forgive me for asking Mr.…. Stark? But what are you doing?" Loki asks after a few seconds of awkward silence in which neither of them know what to say to the other.

"I was… did Barton do anything?" Loki gives him a confused look.

"Oh you mean the man with the bow? The man Thor has told me is called Eye of Hawk?" Tony wants to correct Loki because honestly 'Eye of Hawk' sounds ridiculous but he just nods.

"Did he try to kill you or anything?" Tone asks trying to not sound _too_ concerned.

"He did point an arrow at my face, but he did not fire it so no, he did not try to kill me." Loki says looking up as if trying to remember what exactly had happened a few minutes prior.

"Oh good!" Tony can't stop the relief from showing on his face and smiles faintly.

"We thought he was going to kill you."

"Yes, that much was clear," Loki's smiling as if his life hadn't been threatened

"But as you can see I'm perfectly fine." But only know can Stark see that Loki's not fine. He looks pale and his hands are sweating. His breathing is a bit erratic and it looks like there's still adrenaline pumping through his system but he doesn't have the chance to comment on that because Rogers dashes into the room too, followed by Bruce.

"Are you okay?" is the first thing that comes out of his mouth before he can even see Loki properly. Bruce is right behind him, glancing at Tony before looking at Loki. Loki looks like he's seen a ghost. He looks confused and frowns. He opens his mouth to speak but then closes it as if not sure whether it's a good idea to speak or not.

"Is something wrong? What did Clint do?" Typical of Steve to think it's because Loki's been hurt.

"Why do you care?"

All three of them are staring at Loki, none of them know what to say to that because why would anyone ask that kind of question? But then Tony remembers that they haven't been treating him with much respect or care for that matter. They've been paranoid and unfair and they've even made a fuss just because Loki had tried to find a library. That they've only looked at him with hate the last three days and that Loki has no reason to think that they'd care about his wellbeing at all. And now Tony Stark is starting to feel _guilty_. He's standing up now and he has an urge to look at the ground like a child that's just been scolded. One glance sideways shows him that both Steve and Bruce are feeling the same way. Both look shocked and don't seem to know how to handle this. Well neither does Tony so he just keeps quiet (yes the great Tony Stark does not know what to say, you read that correctly)so naturally it's Steve who has to do the talking.

"We care because you might've gotten hurt, why wouldn't we care?"

"Because I'm your enemy aren't I? I'm a monster, because the only reason I'm alive is because Thor told you to keep me alive, why would you even care about whether I'm wounded or not? As long as I'm alive."

He looks so angry, so scared and confused, emotions that look so foreign and out of place on the face of a twelve-year-old. And then Loki can't keep it inside anymore, his frame shake with sobs, he's trying to suppress them, to hide them to not show weakness but he can't, and none of them care that this is the guy who killed all those people because right now he isn't, right now he's a twelve-year-old who doesn't know what's happening and is scared to death. It's Steve though (of course it is) that's snapped out of his dazed state first and before any of them (including Steve) can register what's happening he's already by Loki's side and he takes him in his arms and comforts him. He's rocking back and forth and Tony almost laughs at the sigh because there he is, the person responsible for most of his nightmares, sobbing in the arms of Captain America. Bruce, just like Tony, doesn't know what do next at first but then he sits down on the bed and rubs Loki's back, awkward at first but the tension soon disappears as Loki doesn't even to seem to notice anything that's happening right next to him and still tries to stop crying.

"Jarvis?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I think you should call Natasha and Clint to the living room."

"Right now, sir?"

Tony glances at Loki who's still sobbing but it's lessening and he seems to have gained back control over his body.

"In a few minutes, Jarvis. And tell them it's not a request, they _are_ coming."

XxXxXxXxXx

When Loki had finally calmed down enough they had managed to get him to fall asleep. He had an almost look angelic the way he had been laying there in Steve's arms, it surprised Steve that he hadn't begun to drool in his sleep which could have completed the picture. Luckily for him Loki didn't drool and they had managed to lay him down on the bed without waking him.

Now they are standing in the living room, the three of them glaring at Hawkeye who is glaring back. So basically it's a glaring contest and although Hawkeye's two men short he's not about to lose.

Tony clears his throat after glaring at Hawkeye for good measure and starts to talk.

"We all know what happened, with Merida here almost killing Thor's brother." Clint doesn't react to that but just shifts his glare to Tony.

"And I've decided that, since this is still my tower Loki will be given some more freedom to roam around," Tony quickly hold his hand up to stop Clint or Natasha from protesting because neither Bruce nor Steve feel the need to protest at all.

"in company of at least one of us-"

"_What?_" This time Clint isn't glaring, he's throwing his arms in the air and if looks could kill, Tony Stark would be so dead right now.

-and I didn't call you here to hear your opinion or for your vote, I called you here to tell you about the decision that's already been made." Tony is about to leave the room after saying that but then he suddenly turn around and looks at Barton.

"Oh and you, Robin Hood, are banned from even getting close to Loki from now on, you move to the twentieth floor and no, that's not up for debate" he adds because now even Natasha looks like she's going to protest but she can't because Tony just turns back around and walks away, automatic doors closing behind him with a buzzing sound. Barton looks like he's going to kill someone and Natasha doesn't look happy either but neither do something threatening or dangerous.

_Beep beep beep_

A little red light flashes on Barton's arm and then he stalks out of the room followed by Natasha who has a flashing red light of her own.

XxXxXxXxXx

Natasha can't believe how all of this has turned out. She's a SHIELD agent, she gets orders and she carries them out because she wants to redeem herself. She wants to wipe out the red on her ledger and for a long time that had been following orders and that's it, carrying out missions (some of them with Barton) and, a few months ago kicking the bad guy's ass. But now the bad guy looked like a kid and things were much more complicated than she preferred them to be. She was a warrior (not a soldier) and she carried out missions, she wasn't used to dealing with a god suddenly turned into a child. And now with Clint acting like this, being consumed by his thirst for revenge, not being who he used to be everything seems to go downhill. She wouldn't say she and Clint were friends, but they have an understanding, have performed various missions together and trust each other when trust is essential to the mission. Now Clint is compromised, even a flying monkey could see that. And some part of her understands Clint, she understands his anger because agent Coulson had been like a father to him, she knows that. She doesn't know how it feels to be under the control of the Tesseract though and she can't even imagine what it must feel like to have your free will taken away from you, to be forced to do things you don't want to but she gets that it must be a horrible feeling. That it changes you, Clint hasn't talked to her about it much but from what he has said she understands that it's torture. Clint has told her about his horrible nightmares of the things he was forced to do and knowing all of that, she understands his frustration regarding Loki. She understands his anger but she also understands that if keeps this up she'll be forced to alert SHIELD and take Clint of this mission or he might endanger them all.

Right now however she doesn't have the time to think more about all of this because SHIELD is calling both her and Barton so that means there must be a mission. And she can't help but feel relieved because she knows how to handle missions and she knows what to do. She remembers being relieved when the red light flashed because she wouldn't have to worry about Loki, or other Norse Gods anymore before she hears what Fury has to say

_The Chitauri have invaded Detroit_

**What do you think? I like the cliffhanger hehehe, if you want more, all you have to do is review/comment. I'm not sure how I'm going to do the action stuff yet because I haven't really written any fights yet so we'll just have to wait and see **

**xxTheAlgea**


	6. Chapter 6

**I just made up the Void thingie, with the in-between, also something that I had been playing with for a long time so yeah, you'll just have to endure it. Also in the Summer Holidays I'll be going to Italy for three weeks, evidently I won't be updating then. It's from mid-July till somewhere in August I'm not sure and I'm too lazy to check, does anyone of you know a way to 'plan' updates'? Like the 'queue' on tumblr? **** Please review/comment and bear with me for the action parts.**

**DON'T FORGET! MORE THAN 5 REVIEWS=PREVIEW ON WEDNESDAY**

"Sir?"

"Kinda busy right now," Tony Stark grunts out. He's holding a five-hundred pound metal rock while in his Iron Man suite and is currently trying to fit it inside the newest invention he's building and timing is of the essence because if he can't fit in there in time things can start to explode very rapidly. Jarvis doesn't seem to care.

"I'm trying to hold them off sir but they're insisting." The British voiced AI informs him.

"Well, I insist they stop insisting and let me work in peace, Jesus I though, me, dramatically leaving would have at least given them a hint."

Almost there just a little bit further

"Stark, it's the Chitauri they're attacking earth!"

So much for the awesome new invention he was building…

XxXxXxXxXx

Director Nick Fury's patience is thin, _very thin_ and right now it's even thinner than it usually is. He's contacted Stark Tower twice this day, once to tell agent Romanoff and Barton that they have to get their asses to Detroit this second and now for a second time, to tell _the Avengers_ to get their asses to Detroit this second and currently they're putting him on _hold!_

He's aggressively staring at the computer screen like it has wronged him and in the meantime people are dying and Earth is under attack while Stark thinks it funny to make his stupid talking robot tell him he's on _hold _when he tries to contact him. So Fury has to do the next best thing: contact Steve Rogers.

"Sir? Wha-"

"No time for this, the Chitauri are on earth they're in Detroit, get you asses to Detroit NOW!" Nick Fury doesn't have time for the surprised look on Bruce and Steve's faces and he opens his mouth to cut all of their questions off and command them to go to Detroit again but he's interrupted by Agent Hill.

"Sir, we have a situation here." She yells because she's not even inside his office yet and then a screen pops up from his computer and Fury knows the Avengers can see this too.

It's a Chitauri warrior a grotesque looking creature, covered in blood,_ human blood_, smiling at the screen and waving his gun at it.

"Puny Midgardians we do not wish any more conflict with your realm, all we desire is the Tesseract we know you have here." Its words are deformed and pronounced wrongly, it's like the alien isn't even trying to be understandable.

"The Tesseract is on Asgard we don't have it." Fury narrows his eyes at the creature. Surely it knows that? Surely it knows that earth does not possess the Tesseract anymore?

"LIES!" The Chitauri warrior spits and he jabs in the general direction of the camera with his gun again.

"We detected its signal, it was faint but it's there wherever you've hidden it you can't keep it from us, it's ours!" He punches at the air and from the background he can hear a horrible clicking, jeering and screaming sound.

"You must have made a mistake then," Fury tries to say it calmly. "We do not have the Tesseract."

The alien doesn't answer, it just looks at the camera with a hideous smirk (if these creatures even _can _smirk) and for a few agonizing slow seconds it's silent on the other side of the line.

"But you do have the Trickster," it suddenly spats out, grin widening, "It's possible the signal is coming from him, you will deliver us the Liesmith or we kill every single Earthling in this pathetic construction you call a city, you have five hourss." The last word is hissed out in a way that would suggest the creature has had enough of talking, which turns out to be correct when the signal disappears and the screen goes blank. Fury doesn't even have to think this one over and he turns around to tell Captain Rogers to get Loki and give him to the damn alien invaders but he's looking at an empty living room.

XxXxXxXxXx

Steve Rogers is almost run over by Tony who's in his suit and has flown out of the lab without a second trhought to the doors and wall which are now supporting an Iron Man shaped hole.

"The Chitauri are here?" He asks when coming to a stop a few feet away from Steve who had to jump out of the way and is currently standing up from where he had thrown himself to the ground.

"They're in Detroit I think it's time to go." Steve snaps, angry because he had to pound on that door for five minutes only to be then almost run over by the very man who's been ignoring him. They both look up when they hear footsteps nearing fast, someone's running towards them and they're both prepared for some Chitauri warrior to jump them and start shooting but they're not prepared for what Bruce has to say when he reaches them.

"They want Loki and if we don't deliver him to them they're going to kill their hostages."

"Hostages what hostages, how many do they have?"

"They-, Detroit?" Bruce says it like it's a question.

Steve can't believe this, "They're holding a whole _city_ hostage?"

Bruce looks pale and he nods.

None of them see the thunder clouds gathering, until they're all made aware of them because then there's a resonating B_ANG_ coming from Stark's roof.

XxXxXxXxXx

When Thor lands on the roof of Stark tower there's a lot of noise and two craters in the size of Thor's feet. He looks around and starts walking toward the doors when said doors fly open and Bruce, Steve and Tony come out, Tony first freaks out about his roof but then he seems to calm down very suddenly and his face becomes serious. He doesn't see Loki though and he cranes his neck to see if maybe he's hiding behind their backs but Loki isn't there.

"Thor?" Captain America asks, obviously surprised.

"Of course," Thor laughs, "Who else would it be?" None of them laugh or react in any other way then just staring and eventually Tony breaks the silence

"We need to talk buddy." He says, glancing at the craters again.

By the time they've uttered the word Chitauri Thor doesn't listen anymore. He immediately starts swinging his hammer and is obviously planning on just flying out of the tower but Tony manages to stop him just in time by pointing out that Thor absolutely has no idea where Detroit is.

When Thor actually realizes he can't just go flying off to Detroit right now he does the next best thing; he runs in the general direction of what he remembers where the guest room is at first Tony and Steve try to stop him, but then alarms are blaring. And the voice of Jarvis informs them why.

"Sir, there's been a security breach, coming from inside Stark Tower." All of them pale and Tony doesn't hesitate.

"Where?" he asks already summoning his suit with the bracelets he's wearing all the time now.

"From what I can gather, sir, _Loki's room_."

XxXxXxXxXx

They burst into Loki's room with such force that the door doesn't survive it and it's blasted out of its hinges. Loki, of course, doesn't even look up. He's staring at the images, images that show the Hulk smashing Chitauri warriors, that show Thor and Loki battling on Stark Tower and Iron Man killing one of the huge Beasts that had come out of the portal. He sees his adult-self open the portal and sees Hawkeye fire all of his arrows at the enemy. Finally he sees himself being transported back to Asgard via the Tesseract together with his brother and the images stop. His fingers do not and he can see that both the scientist and the Iron Human have figured out that he's infusing magic with technology he doesn't care though and keeps scanning for other files. None of them are saying anything because Loki's not being hostile or is accessing something particularly dangerous and the healer breaks the silence after a few awkward seconds.

"You were sleeping." He states. Loki just grins and finally does acknowledge that they're in the same room by looking at them.

"Yes, and sobbing before that I think? You fell for that quite nicely I'd say, I'm not a baby mortal, friend of Thor. Although my brother might have tried to convince you otherwise. I could not just take your word when you told me about my past." He's still skimming though the documents and doesn't care that he made himself suspicious. He just couldn't stand not knowing now that he does however he wishes he doesn't, he truly has hurt a lot of people. At first he had tried denying it but now, he can't do that anymore because he had seen it for himself this time. Then however, comes the message that had been sent by the Chitauri not ten minutes ago, the one where they tell their demands, and all the color drains from his face.

Tony doesn't succeed in shutting down the system in time and Loki has seen everything. He's looking at the three mortals and the one god standing in the now way too small guest room.

"I assume you're all here to take me to Detroit then?" He mutters looking at all of them expectantly, to his surprise (and Thor's for he had already prepared himself to snatch Loki away so no harm would come to his brother) Tony Stark answers:

"Of course not, we're gonna destroy those alien bastards and then you're going to tell me how you hacked into my computer system that easily."

XxXxXxXxXx

Steve doesn't like the plan. Thor doesn't either. Neither do Clint and Natasha who are talking to them via video feed. Bruce doesn't seem all too happy either and Fury's been set on mute because he's screaming at all of them (mostly at Stark) and none of them want to hear him right now. The only two who seem content with it are Loki and Tony, but granted Loki's probably pretending because he looks a little pale and the idea half comes from Stark, half from Loki so they don't have any reason to be disgruntled or angry. It's silent (except in Fury's room because he's still screaming) and eventually it's Thor who opens his mouth.

"I do not agree with this plan, not only is it unreliable, but it also endangers you, Loki"

He's looking at Loki with eyes pleading him to agree but Loki doesn't answer he just stares at the scan they've made of Detroit and the six red dots flickering at the fundaments of the city. They represent the bombs that have been strategically placed there by the Other. If they explode they'll bring the city to ruin and there would be no hope for any survivors.

"I will not participate in this plan, brother it's madness, what are the odds of success? Please reconsider." Thor's starting to sound desperate and he doesn't care that everyone notices this. (Fury has stopped yelling and is now trying to calmly reason with Stark but he can't because no one pays any attention to him.)

Thor can't stand it anymore and he takes three big steps to his brother, grabs his shoulders and shakes him roughly.

"Listen to me, brother, there must be another way to do this!" Loki seems tempted to again ignore his brother but he sighs after a moment of pondering and shakes his head.

"There is no other way, everything will be fine if your friends are as mighty as they claim to be there is no reason to fear." His eyes wander to the scan of Detroit. He sure hopes Thor's friends are as good as they claim to be for if they aren't it will be the end for him. Loki doesn't like that he has to depend on other people besides his brother but he doesn't have any choice and they've wasted three hours already on making this plan. The one hour flight to Detroit and all the preparations that needed to be taken taken into account they have to hurry or they won't make it in time. He dearly wishes for more time but there is none. There's not time for an alternative, no matter how hard Thor pleads, this is how it'll go and Director Fury seems to have realized this because he's silent now but Thor doesn't want to accept it just yet.

He wants to protest against this plan again but is cut off by Loki.

"I don't-"

"Thor!" Loki's head snaps to the side and his gaze bores into Thor. "There is no other solution so stop dragging on about it!" He narrows his eyes at the demi-god in front of him and glares. Why doesn't the big idiot just accept it.

"The only thing you have to do is focus on your part of the plan and I'll worry about mine!" He rips his gaze away from Thor and returns it to the scan. The heat signatures of the Chitauri are moving again and they need to keep an eye on that or everything will be for nothing…

XxXxXxXxXx

"Honestly, holding a whole city hostage just for me, you shouldn't have." Loki drawls out as he walks towards the ten Chitauri warriors who are standing in the middle of the road, not far from the actual city. Their heads turn in his direction when they hear him speak and one of them, the leader, obviously, stands and makes horribly noises coming from his throat and his comrades nudge each other like they've just shared a joke but Loki knows this is untrue because he has the All-Tongue if they had said anything understandable it would have been translated so he ignores their snickering.

The leader comes closer but not too close, next to him, Loki is very aware of the projection of Nick Fury. The director had other things to do than standing next to Loki for their plan to work, they needed him at the SHIELD headquarters so it was decided a projection would suffice.

Loki's wearing the outfit he wore when he had arrived on Midgard, light clothing suited for battle not a lengthy one, standing proud and tall like he has planned the whole thing and has everything under his control. He has seen the footage of his adult self and assumes that arrogance is the best way to go, his adult self certainly didn't have a lack of it. He tries to pretend he doesn't even notice the chains around his wrists. They look sturdy but they are really not and even with his 300 years he knows he can easily break them, luckily their enemies don't know that. If he plays this off well, the plan might even succeed. And if it doesn't than he'll have to rely on plan B. Loki doesn't like plan B, no one except him even knows there is one and plan B doesn not onvolve Loki getting out of here alive…

"_Such brave words for a Liesmith who has failed our Master. Failure comes at a price, when He is done with you, you will beg for the comfort of mere pain." _It sneers, smiling wickedly.

Loki suddenly comes to the realization that the creature is speaking its own language and that the man next to him probably hasn't understood a thing. He knows he can't translate it to him because that would be suspicious and would suggest that he has an alliance with them, which is true but nobody wants the Chitauri to actually know this. He settles for answering in English because that would be a form of disrespect and mocking towards the Chitauri.

"Well, right now I'm not really begging for pain am I?" he scowls back and then he parades a bit waving with his hands and smiling. He's trying to put a mask on, one of confidence while inside he's screaming and panicking. The Chitauri warrior doesn't answer and instead turns to Fury.

"You made a wise choice, _human_, deliver us the trickster and we might even spare your pathetic city for today." Before Nick Fury can answer Loki interferes.

_I have to buy time, how do I buy more time?_

"_If it's the Tesseract you still seek, I could bring it to you" _this time he does speak in the language of that Chitauri scum. This wasn't discussed back at Stark Tower and the director still doesn't trust him if he hears what Loki'll say next he might jeopardize the whole plan.

"_I know where it is, I'll kill these pesky humans for you and bring the Tesseract to you, imagine the reward if you were the one to give the Tesseract to Him." _

_XxXxXxXxXx_

"_You think you can manage to distract them long enough brother?" They're sitting in the Heli-carrier and Thor keeps pestering Loki about the plan and Loki's reached his breaking point._

"_DON'T call me brother, Thor!" He shouts wiping his head back angrily and glaring at Thor._

"_I'm not your brother and I don't have time for this nonsense, you do your part I'll take care of mine!" He rages and his face is red, Thor backs away and redirects his gaze to the floor, he's well aware of the stares they're getting from the other Avengers he knew this day would come the moment he realized Loki had lost his memories that doesn't mean he's prepared for it though. He cannot help but sigh._

"_If you could give me a moment alone with my brother?" He doesn't have to look up because all of them know that he's basically talking to anyone except Loki. They all leave in silence (yes even the Man of Iron has no comment) and soon the room is empty besides Thor and Loki, neither of them are looking each other in the eye._

"_I understand your anger, brother but-"_

"_DON'T call me brother? Are you so stupid that you cannot even understand a simple sentence, shall I rephrase it for you?" Now Loki is looking at Thor, he can feel his gaze on him and Thor looks up as well and meets his brother's glare._

"_We may not be family by blood but you are still my brother Loki, you have to understand that!" Thor exclaims, he has never been good with words, he never knows how to phrase them properly because ever since he can remember, whenever he said something, anything Loki always found some kind of insult in it even if there was none._

"_You better leave, we'll be there soon." His tone is flat, emotionless and so is his face. He's staring at Thor but it's like Thor isn't even there. _

_Thor feels horrible, disappointment and even anger cloud in his mind and he feels hurt because his brother is turning away from him again and he can't lose him, not again but even Thor as stubborn as he is can see the line. He's reached the limit right now and he turns around and walks out of the room but before the doors close he can hear Loki say something to him. It's whispered but Thor can hear it anyway._

"_You're not my brother Thor but that doesn't mean I don't love you."_

_XxXxXxXxXx_

The suspicious glare coming from the man who is now standing behind him as Loki has moves forward makes him nervous and the voices in his head are screaming that he'll fail but he pushes them away, because he can't fail. He can't fail his brother not again, not ever.

He knows he can summon his knives anytime but he doesn't because if he does a fight will break out and he need, _they_ need more time and he has to give them as much time as he can.

"_Your lies will not work on us, Silvertongue." _But the answer comes too late and everyone (even Fury who doesn't know what's going on) has noticed. His comrades stop grinning and they're closely studying the exchange now. Fury doesn't say anything for even he can say that this is a crucial moment, one that he cannot disturb or the consequences would be dire.

"_Well then if lies do not suffice how about some truth? Do you know how I came to be in this form?" _distract them, telling them he truly has forgotten certain things might help him right now.

"_I'm stuck with little to no recollection of what happened in the last few months."_ He's still smiling like he's welcoming guests in his home and is asking them if they want something to drink.

"_They call you the Liesmith but your lies are shallow and easily spotted, are you even trying?" _The tension has not yet left but it's lessened.

"_Oh but I am telling the truth,"_ Loki sighs wearily like it saddens him that they do not believe him. "_I seem to have forgotten a lot but not this: your Master desires the Infinity Gauntlet and the Infinity Stones but the Tesseract is not one of them, neither is it on earth anymore. What could you possibly want from earth no that it is no longer in the possession of the Tesseract?"_

The Chitauri warrior starts to laugh (or its weird version of a laugh is heard anyhow) and his comrades do the same.

"_Two can play this game trickster,"_ but then he switches to his broken English once more  
"But you are wasting precious time, in a few minutes the city will be in ruins if we don't return with the trickster." It's obviously directed at Fury.

"We brought you the Asgardian, release the city, earth does not want any trouble!" He speaks calmly but his eyes (or eye) show his determination.

The warrior ignores him and with a gesture that looks a lot like a shrug it turns its attention back to Loki.

"_There's no harm in telling a doomed man about a future he will not be part of." _It's mocking him and Loki clenches his fists.

"_He will get the Tesseract no matter what." _Now it's laughing again, that weird noise coming from the back of his throat.

"_Without any of the Gems in his possession Thanos cannot possibly believe he can get the Tesseract away from Asgard?"_

"_Your ignorance is almost endearing, what makes you think our Master does not own an Infinity Gem already?"_

Loki tries to hide his surprise and shock, if Thanos has one of the Gems already, it changes everything and suddenly he remembers the scepter again and dread fills his stomach but also relief, he know remembers what the scepter _is_ and he knows Thanos does not have it, the creature is bluffing. But the he remembers that if Thanos doesn't have it, it must still be on earth. The Chitauri are not here for the Tesseract, it's not here anymore but the scepter _is_. Loki doesn't have time to ponder much longer however because then the time is up, the bombs should explode now, but if the plan has worked they won't. The Chitauri have noticed too and they turn around expectantly, wanting to watch the Midgardian city fall.

It's silent for a few agonizing seconds… And then one of the bombs explodes.

That means it's time for plan B

Loki _hates _plan B

**Ooh yes, a cliffhanger, flashback scenes from the actual plan might keep coming because I like it that way. For those who are wondering the reaction of Fury is normal because he's a projection and can't really do much and the Chitauri did not allow any reinforcements in a one mile radius from the city so no SHIELD agent can come to the rescue. (Luckily the Avengers aren't really SHIELD agents are they?° I'd really like to know your opinion so please comment/review? I REALLY NEED SOME MOTIVATION RIGHT NOW and a big THANK you and shout out for all of you who have reviewed because each one of you have made my day and you're the reason I'm still continuing this story! And no action scenes, I expected there to be some but no, they're for next chapter and OMG 4k words again I'm starting to get the hang of this!**

**xxTheAlgea**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yes, I left you hanging there didn't I. I had to think a LONG time over this and Loki's power over the water (yes, this'll happen in this chapter) is based on the fact that he had an affinity for it in Thor; tales of Asgard and that he is a Frost Giant so water would come naturally to him. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask them! Also I AM going to continue this fic because I fell in love with writing it, I can't stop thinking about more plot bunnies and they keep popping up! I'm thinking of making this a trilogy but we'll see about that.**

_Thor's gone and by whispering those words he just had Loki knows they'll leave him be for some time, long enough, he hopes to prepare for plan B. There has to be something to fall back on because Loki doesn't care that his brother trusts these mortals Loki's learned to rely on himself and not on others too much so that's exactly what he'll do. If the mortals fail in deactivating the bombs the consequences are horrible. If even one of the bombs explodes and this explosion is not stopped it time, its power will reach the next bomb and deactivated or not, that bomb will explode to. The chain reaction will destroy the city and with it Loki's chance of showing the Midgardians that he means no harm and it will make the Chitauri's plan succeed. He doesn't know what they've planned after the explosions but it can't be good. _

_The plan is simple in theory, he has studied the art of cloning himself for months now because it looked like a handy trick for some pranks but now he has to use them in a life-death situation and he dearly hopes it will work. He only has a one-second-window, he has installed a mini-virus into the computer of Stark (he heard that was the Iron Man's name) that will disable the artificial intelligence program to monitor everything on the ship, including Loki, the computer won't even be able to notice because it will be quick, the only thing Loki has to do is send the signal but at the same time he has to clone himself and teleport that clone in the close proximity of the mortal city Detroit. _

_Glad that he has seen enough images and maps to know where the city lies and how it looks he knows that he can send his clone there, however keeping that clone hidden is something of a bit more complicated nature, he still has to be connected to it or it would fade away but this connection can't be discovered, not by anyone so he has to cloak it. _

_To explain this very simply: Loki has to send a signal to the virus in the computer system, has a second time to clone himself and teleport that clone to Detroit but has to cloak the connection with him and said clone at the same time. He also has to embodiment the clone so that it can actual _do_ things and he has to be two persons at the same time. That can't be too hard can it?_

XxXxXxXxXx

The mission is blown and it's all Thor's fault. The thunder god had been so worried over the safety of his little brother that he had not been paying his full attention to this mission while this mission especially required his attentiveness. Stark had explained to him how to deactivate the bomb and it was simple, the Chitauri had weapons of mass destruction but these weapons weren't too complicated because your average foot soldier of the Chitauri knows almost nothing except how to shoot a gun and die in battle.

Thor had been too distracted hadn't paid attention to his surroundings hadn't even noticed when more Chitauri practically came raining down on him. Thor had been the last for his bomb had been placed the furthest so by the time he had started to deactivate the bomb all of his companions had already disabled theirs so the Chitauri had been able to concentrate on this last bomb, they had all known that if this bomb did not explode for them all would be lost so _they_ had not been distracted at all.

And Thor, Thor with all his strength, Thor the prince of Asgard was not defeated but he was stalled, long enough for it to be too late to deactivate the bomb and as he realizes this he braces himself for the explosion and thinks

_I have failed you brother_

And when the bomb goes off and Thor is blown away and he cannot hear anything anymore he suddenly feels like the heavens are crashing down on him and he _can't_ breathe anymore because there's _water everywhere!_

XxXxXxXxXx

He must act quickly, with a simple vision spell he had been able to spy on all the action those Midgardian and his bro- _no not his brother, just Thor_ had done. He had seen the red-haired woman take out the aliens with such ease that he would never ever doubt the strength of a woman again. He had seen the archer shoot his arrows swiftly and with no effort at all, he too had had no problems with taking out the aliens, they almost made it look like child's play! The green monster the healer transformed in smashed his enemy's heads with such ferocity that what had been left of the Chitauri had not been a pretty sight. The Man of iron had simple blasted away all of the Chitauri in a matter of seconds like they were nothing but insects that were there to trample and squash with your boot.

But Thor, Thor had been distracted and Loki had seen this the moment the vision spell showed him the crown prince of Asgard and Loki had known that if the plan were to fail it would because of Thor so the clone had teleported close to where the bomb lay. He had not been able to even try and deactivate the thing because he couldn't risk teleporting so close. And when the bomb exploded he had been prepared.

Now he has to concentrate on the bomb and he lets his attention in his true body slip for a couple of seconds, _lethal_ seconds he knows because his real body is about to be attacked the moment this bomb sets of and it does no damage but he can't think about that because he has other things to worry about. This clone body is imperfect and its magic limited but it's there and when he sees Thor almost being swallowed up by the explosion something snaps inside of him.

He doesn't know where this rush comes from, this _wave_ of power, he can only guess it comes from the Tesseract energy within him, but that is of no importance right now so he focusses on his plan again. He's always known he had some connection to water and upon discovering a river flows through this city he had immediately known what to do. He had immediately known his plan B. Has it already been mentioned that Loki really hates plan B?

Loki calls upon the water, forces it to obey his will and the water does as it is bid. Loki knows that, while he's directing the water to the city that this will only temper the explosion it won't cancel it out and it will bring destruction too but it is a sacrifice necessary for this city to survives this ordeal, this power 'boost' will not last and that soon his magic will not suffice to hold an amount of water like this in his control he has to act as fast as possible for the casualties to be minimal.

He moves the water in such a way that is like a barricade preventing the full force of the explosion to reach the other bombs it's like a protective shell and he is glad that he only has to will the water to hold this form for a moment, long enough to protect the city. In the same breath that he holds to force the water to obey his will, he feels his magic is not enough and he can do nothing, he can only stand there and keep fueling the water with the magic he's left when the body of the clone slowly fades away because its conjurer is being wounded and does not have the power to do this anymore.

The consciousness slips from the clone and everything is black for a moment. Then Loki can feel his true body again and he can feel it being smashed against the ground with such force that the pain almost blinds him. His small, weak body is not made for any of this.

_XxXxXxXxXx_

_Fury is not happy with any of this but apparently he has no say in the matter (he hates this as well). Stark has unmuted him and after a few seconds of raging Fury has calms down enough to listen to the plan. He has to because he has no other choice and he hates it that earth's fate is going to be placed in the hands of the maniac who tried to conquer it in the first place_

_The Chitauri have made it clear that if any military force is detected in a one mile radius from the heart of the city that they'll blow Detroit up without hesitation. Fury's part of the plan is simple, yet crucial, he has to be 'present' when 'handing Loki over' to those space bastards and it has to be convincing. He has to keep SHIELD agents as close as possible to the city without the Chitauri knowing and when the realization that the bombs have been disabled sets in he has to get his agents to that city as fast as humanly possible, normally it will only take a few seconds but those seconds would never have been more important. _

_The moment the Chitauri realize they've been tricked they'll send their whole armada in and earth has to be prepared for that, in the five hours that were given, Fury has mobilized the biggest army since World war II in a one mile radius of Detroit he just hopes it'll be enough._

_XxXxXxXxXx_

Thor is drowning, he can't move because somehow the water is perfectly still but he can still feel it moving and he has never been good with seidr but he is the son of Odin and Frigga, _seidr_ is in his blood and he can feel his brother's so close to him, a sense of familiarity but then realization sets in, Loki's moving the water but that's not possible from a distance like that, so there is only one logical explanation, Loki's cloned himself, Thor remembers that Loki only showed that he had this ability when they were over 500 years but he now fully knows what a liar his brother is and that he knew how to produce duplicates way before that.

Thor doesn't even bother trying to move or swim to the surface because it's like there is no surface, like there's only water and he can't move anyway. The _seidr_ he feels is so strong but its presence fades away just as fast as it came. He knows it's still there because it can't just disappear like that but he can't feel it anymore because it's so weak now. He takes this opportunity to try and move and before he can try to figure out where the surface is the water just falls and Thor with it. All the magic is gone now and Thor wants to worry about his brother but he's occupied at the moment, he's busy drowning.

Once the water has fallen Thor realizes it's steady and he manages to find the surface and with a few might swings from Mjolnir he flies out of the water into the sky. The sky is dark and clouds have gathered in the few seconds he was under so much has happened, the war fleet from the Chitauri is coming down from space and Chitauri are swarming, people are screaming and there's smoke coming from burning buildings.

Thor looks around only for a moment and can see the destruction the gigantic wave of water has caused, building look like they're going to collapse at any seconds and everywhere he can see Midgardians floating or swimming, screaming because they're disoriented or have lost sight of someone they care about. Thor has no time to keep looking because the sound of shooting and battle can be heard plainly, from where he knows Loki is.

Thor doesn't think he's ever flown this fast before, he flies over the road where Loki is and the sight that meets him, shocks him. From afar he can see the Midgardians coming as fast as they can (not very fast) and he can see air vessels approaching. But his gaze is fixed on the ground.

Loki is slumped against one of the Chitauri and around them are bodies skittered everywhere, all of them Chitauri, Loki has indeed put up some fight but he had been outnumbered and his strength is nothing compared to that of the Chitauri so he must have had to rely on his tricks but those were not enough, as it would seem. There's blood on his face, and not the black kind the Chitauri have flowing in their veins but _red_ blood, _his_ blood. His face is pale and Thor can see his hands are bloody, both his and Chitauri blood speckle his clothing and his armor, the breast plate is ripped and the edges are tarnished with blood, red blood, that is still oozing out of the wound, his leg is bent at an odd angle, one that the body (not even the one of a Frost Giant) does not allow its bones to bend.

This is all registered by Thor in a split second and then he dives forward and smashes half of the Chitauri before they even realize he's there, they fall like flies for him and Thor isn't even hindered the slightest bit when he smashes into them. With one might swing from Mjolnir he crushes the alien holding his brother.

He manages to catch his brother before he can fall to the ground and while laying him down there's an enemy behind him charging at full speed he evades the attack swiftly, grabs the creature's arm that was holding a spear (since its gun was rendered useless), breaks it easily and then hits him with Mjolnir in the chest, it's blown away by the sheer force of it and it almost _flies_ backwards, crashing into his comrades, it's almost comical but Thor doesn't have time to laugh, he turns back around and picks his brother up he doesn't take another step though, because then a huge, blue, electric blast slams into him and sends him flying and the only thing Thor can do protect his brother is dropping him out of the reach of the blast only a split second before it hits him and then he can't do anything anymore because the world turns black.

XxXxXxXxXx

He's slowly drifting in and out of consciousness but he really just wants to stay unconscious because being awake means pain and fatigue. He can feel someone lifting him up, gently, in strong contrast with the Chitauri who dragged him along earlier, and he knows he can't stay unconscious because he has things to do and if he doesn't wake immediately he won't like the outcome. (Not that he like this but there is no doubt on his mind that by blacking out he'll only make it worse for he won't have any means to defend himself).

His eyes flutter open and the light fucking _hurts_ but then he can feel magic resonating in the air, he can practically hear it and he knows what it is for some reason but he cannot warn the person who's carrying him because it's too late, the person has dropped him and is blasted away by the beam of magic coming undoubtedly coming from the Chitauri and for some reason he knows which one, _the Other_.

He can see a flash of red, _Thor! _But then he falls and his body hits the pavement and he cannot see red anymore because he can see stars now. He's landed on his bad leg and the excruciating pain consumes him. He's tried healing magic but the stunt with the water has left him drained, he's helpless, he can't even properly open his eyes and he feels pitiful and he hates it. He hates plan B so much…

The other talk so silently that the words seem incoherent at first but after blinking a few times and after he manages to get his breathing under control he understands them.

"_Little princeling, there's no use in hiding behind these mortals, He will find you, you cannot hide from Him!"_ He's talking in his own language and even though the All-tongue translates it, it still sounds wrong and Loki comes to the conclusion that this is not the Chitauri language but something older, he has never heard it before and the fact that the other is using it freely means one simple thing.

He doesn't except Loki to survive to tell the tale because Loki somehow _knows_ that the Other almost never speaks his mother tongue. And it is unknown to him how he knows all of this but it feels like you know that if you let go of something it'll drop, it's just something you _know_.

Loki can barely keep his eyes open, pain dulls his senses and his headache makes him want to claw his brains out with his bare hands but he tries to focus for it's his life that hangs in the balance. He can see the other approaching with a Chitauri warrior at each side. With a small movement of his hand he commands them to take Loki and drag him to him where the portal to the ship awaits not far behind him. Loki can't stop himself from crying out when they roughly grab him and he can suddenly feel the adrenaline kicking in, his magic is stirred and he knows it now or never. He conjures up small knives with all of his power, one he throws in the direction he knows the other must stand for he heard his voice coming from there, the other two he thrusts into his two carrier's unprotected chins and now the fact that he's so small actually works in his advantage.

He can't stand on his own however and he falls again to the ground, grunting when he connects with the unforgiving pavement once more he hopes against all hope that his knife has reached its target but when he hears the _laughing_, and he knows he's failed.

**Yes, I'm ending it at that! I wanted to write more but I realized it would be too much for one chapter so I had to split it up again. This fighting thing is so hard I never thought it would be this difficult. I hope you liked it and please review/comment and make me very happy!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I can't believe this is chapter 8 already, this is the longest story I've ever done and I'm not planning on stopping any time soon! Thanks for those who have reviewed/commented I love you all! For those who haven't yet: please do even if you don't like the story, give me some advice to make it better! ;) The plot bunnies keep popping up I'm so happy about all of this! Flashbacks are done btw.**

**ABOUT THAT PREVIEW: THOSE WHO REVIEW CAN ASK FOR A PREVIEW (I WILL SEND IT TO THEM) WHEN THIS CHAPTER HAS MORE THAN 5 REVIEWS! **

Tony Stark gets there first, of course he's the one with a super-powered suit and of course, it's a suit of his own making, so the only thing you have to remember from all of this is that Tony Stark is amazing and his technology is even more so. His joy at being a genius is drained from him the moment he can actually see what's going on. He had been casually destroying aliens attacking earth (this was just 1 warship he would handle this, easy as pie) when Fury had suddenly started screaming in his earpiece.

"Stark you're the closest to Thor and Loki, you have to go to the meeting point now! There's be-" Fury doesn't have the chance to even finish his rant because somehow the connection fails. Stark's connection _never_ fails, that means something or someone must be interfering with it. Even though Stark wants to ponder upon that (who on earth… or beyond could do such a thing?), he can't, he has to go to the meeting point, Fury might be annoying as hell he had sounded serious so _better check things out there_, he remembers thinking. _Can't be that bad._

So he might be wrong, just a little bit, it's pretty bad. Thor is nowhere to be seen, there's a lot of smoke however, very far from Stark's current location. It doesn't take a genius, playboy, philanthropist to guess where Thor is. Instead he redirects his gaze downwards where looks for Loki.

He spots Loki easily and immediately wishes he had been faster, Loki is lying on the ground, barely moving and the alien stands above him, it grabs the demi-god roughly, Tony can see the portal just behind the creature, this does not bode well, he has to do something and well although he is a strategist he also likes to blow things up that aren't his for a change so that's exactly what he does.

"Full power Jarvis, lock onto the target and make sure not to hit Loki!"

"Of course sir." All the weapons in his armor are pointed at the target, Tony wants to wait for dramatic effect but he knows he can't afford it right now so he skips to the shooting. There's one thing Tony hasn't counted on however, the seriously annoying enhanced hearing of this alien he's trying to shoot, it seems to have known this attack would come all this time and simply moves out of the way of every missile with such precision it's like he is able to predict where every one of them will land.

Tony might not have counted on it, he sure as hell had known it had been a possibility he hadn't thought it possible what happened then however. Instead of letting the projectiles hit Loki, it draws a shield and protects the demi-god from the deadly missiles fired at him. Tony had ordered Jarvis not to hit Loki, and every one of those missiles would have missed Loki grandiosely. Tony doesn't have time to hover dumbfounded because the alien doesn't hesitate and fire at Tony as well.

Gigantic bright blue beams, coming from the staff it's holding, they look quite deadly so Tony makes a mental note to find out its working as soon as his life isn't endangered by it anymore. That might take a while. He evades them easily but then something happens he's not prepared for, the creature _disappears_.

His sensors are overloading trying to find it but when they do Tony knows it's too late, somehow it has managed to appear in his blind spot, the one spot his weapons cannot reach immediately. The blast hits him, full force and his system overloads, Tony Stark had to crash land and when he does so, it feels like felt when falling down from that portal in New York.

XxXxXxXxXx

Fury is watching everything and he has never felt so helpless and useless. Not even in the Battle of New York because even then he had had things to do, things to take care of. Now he can do nothing but watch as the demi-god who had ravaged their planet was beaten easily, how the thunder god was slammed into one of the tanks that were further away and how Stark practically crashed in on the road almost a mile away.

He has already beeped up Natasha and Clint but they are both far away from the meeting point and even the projector on that place had been destroyed he can't even _talk_ to them, the communication is down. It failed the moment he had ordered Natasha and Clint to come to the battle so at least he knows help is coming.

He doesn't like Loki, not at all, he would not cry over him if he died but he knows that if Loki falls into the hands of the enemy the result would be catastrophic for earth and everyone else. Fury does not particularly care about _everyone else_ but from what he had heard from Thor, there were Nine Realms for a reason. He almost sighs of relief when he sees Natasha coming from the right and Clint from the left.

This relief is short-lived however. They will never reach the alien that is called the Other in time, they're very far away, too far for arrows he surely hopes Natasha still has some bullets in her guns. Luckily she does. The Other is just about to grab the demi-god for the second time that day but a bullet stops him mid-action. It ricochets off his gloves however but it does startle him.

He looks up in the direction of Natasha and that is his mistake, he doesn't notice Clint who's close enough now to fire an arrow, an exploding one preferably but when no arrow comes Fury narrows his eyes and looks in the direction of Hawkeye? He's not _there_. Not two seconds ago he had seen him running there and now he's just gone.

He tries all camera angles but he can't find his agent and again Fury is reminded of the fact that he can do nothing but watch. And he hates it. Did he already mention that?

XxXxXxXxXx

Loki is very confused. The light still hurts and he hears shooting and fighting so close to him but he isn't hit by anything and at some point he can feel the Other using magic, it envelops him, like a shield but he must be imagining that because why would the Other do that?

He can hear gunshots and he can hear people screaming but he has to focus on other things, he knows the other has been distracted, he can feel his magic returning to him, it feels good. He tries to direct it to his knee, which is obviously broken, his chest hurts and he can feel the blood loss making him dizzy but that's a long-term problem, his knee is more practical right now, he can cope with the loss of blood later, if he survives this ordeal at all.

For some reason his magic is much stronger than he remembers and his knee heals remarkably fast even for an Aes-Frost Giant, Loki suddenly comes to the realization that he knows next to nothing about his anatomy but that are problems for later, he has to focus.

He manages but only _just_. His vision is not blurred anymore and he's glad because it could have been a big hinder in his next step. The portal is just behind the Other he can only see one course of action he can take. So he does exactly that.

He knows he's surprised the Other and he finds satisfaction in that. He has summoned a dagger in his left hand he knows what he had to do if this plan succeeds. He can't fall into the hands of Thanos alive, he wouldn't survive it, he knows this, like he knows the Other is not Chitauri, he knows that only suffering awaits him if he falls alive in that portal and then death. If he has to die it'll be on his own terms and not screaming from torture and stripped from his dignity.

He charges without thinking and only now he can appreciate that, he's starting to understand what Thor sees in this, charging head-first in battle, it's exhilarating, he feels strangely _alive_ the blood loss doesn't bother him anymore and the pain in his knee doesn't either. It's an annoying throbbing but he pays it no heed.

He collides with the Other with so much force that he can hear his _own fucking_ ribs cracking and he's not even surprised when he doesn't feel the usual pain accompanying an injury like this. Yes, he can definitely understand Thor better now, battle has never seemed very appealing to him because what fun is rolling around in the dirt and your own blood? But now he can't feel the dirt or his blood or his injuries he feels the thrill of battle and he likes it. It roars in his ear and for a 300-year-old he has a lot of strength, he doesn't know where it comes from but he has it now and he plans on using it to the full extent.

They're falling now, into the portal and he can't help himself but he feels panic, it grips his throat and for a moment he can't breathe. He can't stop his hands from trying to grab something, anything to stay alive, to not fall, self-preservation has always been his greatest flaw, he doesn't want to die.

Because his hands are grabbing at nothing he lets go of the knife and it falls. The Other has fallen already and Loki loses grip on Midgard but then his hand actually grabs _something_, he doesn't even register _what but he grabs it anyway. _

He holds on because it is his life that depends on it and even though whatever it is, it's cutting in his hand and he can feel the blood dripping from his arms he doesn't let go.

He can only slightly feel the pull, his hands clamp even tighter around the _rope, _thinks, and he has to shut his eyes because the light _fucking_ hurts. His mind is clouded again by dizziness, wariness and pure exhaustion, he wants to know though, he wants to know who's saved him from falling into the hands of Thanos, the light is too blinding to see anything properly but he tries anyway, his eyes manage to focus for a mere second. In that second Loki can see that what he's holding is indeed a rope, it's thin and it looks like fluid silver, it's shining, reflecting the sun and Loki tries to see who's holding the other side, he can't. He drops his head and gives up, before he closes his eyes he can see the end of the rope, behind him, still a bit in the portal but he recognizes the thing hanging from it, it's an arrow.

XxXxXxXxXx

It's dead silent, there are eight people in one room and if a needle would drop, you would be able to hear it perfectly. The only sound heard is the uneven breathing of the child, lying on the bed. Nobody knows what to do next because none of them know anything of Frost Giant anatomy and they might get something wrong and do more damage than good and Thor has refused to take that risk.

It's been only a few hours after the attack and neither Tony nor Thor have been properly cared for but neither of them care. Bruce looks miserable because he has offered his help, he might not be a real doctor but the knows a few things however Thor had declined his offer to help multiple times by now so Bruce has given up. He's standing there awkwardly, like all of them are. Fury hasn't even ranted about anything yet, he just stands there, his one eye narrowed in the direction of the little demi-god in the hospital bed.

They arrived on Stark Tower very soon because Loki had obviously needed help and they couldn't risk bringing him to a normal hospital. Clint is leaning against the wall, face emotionless and with a look that suggests you better steer away from him for a long time. Natasha's sitting on a chair, doing absolutely nothing and Tony is sipping from some alcoholic drink Bruce isn't particularly interested in (does that even surprise anyone?).

The medical room is stuffed with equipment and after a long debate they had manages to convince Thor to put bandage around Loki's chest wound with salve on it to make sure it wouldn't infest, disinfectant has been applied to Loki's face as well. There was nothing else they were allowed to do so they had eventually just given up. Bruce has no idea how long they stand there but he's pretty sure it's a long time because at some point he couldn't feel his legs anymore.

There's cough, then another and then there's a fluttering of eyelids and four of them release a sigh they hadn't even realizes they had been holding. Bruce hadn't even noticed it himself, or maybe he had denied it but he had been worried about the little demi-god lying there. Somehow even though he hadn't had many conversations with him, Loki had won him over, not fully but still.

The fluttering is slow and Bruce almost doesn't see Clint and Fury leave when they do, he is surprised that Natasha has stayed but he doesn't let his mind linger on it for any longer because now there's more movement coming from the bed. Loki is trying to sit up and Bruce can see him grimacing from the pain before he gives up and falls back into the bed again.

He looks frustrated but most of all he looks in pain, which is only logical of course his wounds are serious and no real medical attention has been given to them because Thor won't allow it. Bruce rushes forward together with Stark because they both know what they're doing and Thor even backs away, he helps Stark move the cushions and the bed in such a way that Loki can sit upright without having to do it himself and so that he has something to lean on as well. Loki's eyes are clearer now, more alert. Loki closes them again and breathes through his nose slowly.

"Give him some space, friends." Thor's voice is lowered to a volume Bruce doesn't even know Thor's capable of. He backs away and Loki relaxes. Small green sparks and golden ripples flow through his body and Bruce can't help himself, he's staring, he can see the blood that had slowly been more visible on the bandage fading and the color is returning to Loki's face again, it stops however very soon and Loki starts to fall forward, Thor jumps forward and catches him just in time for he had almost fallen out of the bed. There's still blood on the bandage and Loki's still not looking very healthy but he looks a lot better than before and for that Bruce is glad.

"We should let him rest," Bruce forces himself to say when he sees Thor gently laying his brother down with a look of hurt in his eyes. He looks so distressed and confused and angry all at the same time and he obviously wants to stay with his brother but rest is the only thing Loki needs right now so Bruce wants to make sure he gets exactly that.

Thor nods slowly, Tony leaves first, yelling (what did you expect?) about treating everyone with a drink that would blow their minds. Steve follows though everyone knows it's not for that drink since he can't even get drunk and Natasha after him. Bruce expects Thor to make a fuss but the Asgardian's shoulders just slump and he strokes his brother forehead gently as not to wake him. Then the Thunder God walks out of the medical room at a brisk pace as if he can't stand to be there any longer, Bruce follows and turns off the light. Loki deserves some rest.

XxXxXxXxXx

Dead bodies lie scattered across the floor, their limbs bent in unnatural ways, blood drips of the wall and even now, screams can be heard, the sound bounces off the walls and the wind carries them over the whole barren planet.

Smoke rises from what was once the face of a Chitauri warrior, there is no head anymore just a gap, black and burned and He hasn't even begun yet, the Other stands far away and watches his Master maim his followers until they're nothing but rotting corpses on the floor. Their stench makes even the other uncomfortable, some are still alive twitching and shaking, most of them do not even have lips anymore to cry, their faces are like molten wax and black blood makes the ground slippery. This is the wrath of the Mad Titan, this is what happens to the lucky ones that fail him, the whole squadron that had returned from earth alive lays here now, husks of what they once were, sacrificed the Lady Death.

The Other has not been punished yet but he knows it will come, he does not fear his Master's wrath for selfish reason such as his own suffering but because if his Master kills him he cannot serve him anymore, he has to find a way to please Him, to soothe his anger, the Other will become a sacrifice, a gift to her, he knows this and embraces it but he will not be one today.

The Trickster has not been retrieved, the only thing besides the Tesseract He desired and they have failed to even bring him that. The Other barely hears one of the Chitauri enter but he does hear what it has to say, it's frightened and once it has finished the other knows that his master will be pleases, enough to spare his unworthy servant who had failed him.

He brings the news to Him, once He has finished burning another Chitauri warrior, its screams echo in the cave and the messenger cringes and whimpers, stepping back even though that if his Master wants to he can take one step and crush the unworthy servant. It opens its mouth to speak, voice shaking like the rest of his body.

"The scepter is still on Midgard, Master, and we know its location."

**Wouldn't you like to know what they're gonna do with the scepter? It's not a big cliffhanger I think, compared to the others, the next one isn't so bad either I promise. Can't make promises for the chapter after that one hehehe.**

**XxTheAlgea**


	9. Chapter 9

**From here on it's going to move faster because yes at first it was a bit slow: p hope you like it, please review/comment and a thousand hugs and kisses to the people who have reviewed/commented you made this fic possible **

"_I could have done it father for you for all of us"_

_There's only darkness, and falling. How long has he been falling, he doesn't remember why is he falling, words and meaningless images keep flashing in front of his eyes but he can't really see or hear them. He knows they're there. And he knows he's falling_

"_So, I'm no more than another stolen relic? Locked up, here, until you might have use of me!"_

_He can feel the ghost of a hand holding his own, the hand lets go, why did that hand let go?_

_He's not falling anymore but he hasn't hit a surface, he's standing on nothing but at the same time he's not standing at all. Everything is so dark, it's too dark his eyes hurt and his head feels like it is going to explode._

_They're looking at him he can feel their gazes but they are hidden he wants to scream, demand to know where he is, why isn't he dead?_

_There's no one who asks him but he answers anyway, is he losing his mind? Is he hearing voices? They are not words he hears, they are thoughts. _

"_I am Loki of Asgard," is that his voice? He doesn't want to say more but he does as if driven by an unknown force, he keeps talking but he doesn't know what he's saying, he's not him anymore it's like he's outside of his own body, the feeling he has when he makes a clone of himself however he has no control whatsoever over anything. _

_He can feel the power, the pressure radiating around him and finally he can control his own actions again, he slowly moves each muscles and for once he's happy when they scream in protest. He licks his lips and his mouth curves into a smile, he has his voice back. His voice is all he needs._

"_I will get you what you desire…" he doesn't have to see for himself for he knows he's schooling his expression to be genuine._

"… _For a price." _

_He is the father of lies after all_

XxXxXxXxXx

"I know what they want."

Bruce almost jumps out of his skin and the chair tips over. He falls ungracefully on the ground, legs flailing. Bruce looks up, rubbing his head, at Loki with surprise obvious on his face. He must have fallen asleep.

"Me too," Bruce answers indignant, he fell of his chair for this. "You and the Tesseract both of which we're not giving him."

Loki's head turns around to look at Bruce, eyes widening in surprise.

"What are you-"Loki shakes his head as if to say _Mortals_

"He's not looking for the Tesseract," Bruce picks up the chair and shakes his head.

"If it's not the Tesseract or you he's looking for, then what is?" _Loki probably hit his head a bit too hard; he's not even trying to make sense._

"He's looking for the scepter." Loki swings his legs off the bed. Bruce doesn't let him,

"Wooh, there big guy, you're not well enough to start running around the tower yet." He pushes Loki back into the bed as gently as he can with Loki resisting.

"Unhand me; I don't have time for this I need to speak with the leader of your realm." He tries to swat away Bruce's hands.

"Wait a second there Loki, explain it to me first and then we'll go to Fury okay?" Only now has the meaning of Loki's words actually sunk in.

"He's looking for the scepter, your scepter?" Loki glares at him because he can't get up, Bruce's hands are still pushing him back.

"Yes, unless you know of some other scepter?" The sarcasm drips from his voice and he stops resisting.

"We don't have time for this, healer Bruce if we do not hurry we might be too late!" Bruce has backed off from Loki to give him some space, wrong move, he sees the green spark when it is already too late, Loki let's go of the energy he's gathered and Bruce is blasted away against a wall. He can vaguely hear Loki apologize and when his vision clears Loki's gone.

XxXxXxXxXx

"You cheated!" Thor is glaring at the game of battleships he only has one left and Stark still has all of his. He doesn't like these Midgardian games at all and this has nothing to do with the fact that he has lost every single one of them.

"It cannot be that your ship has not passed the spot I have been repeating the last few minutes!" Tony frowns

"Wait you've been moving your ships?"

"Of course I have! Ships sail do they not? Are Midgardian ships different?" Tony stares and on the couch not far from them Clint is laughing his ass off. Since the battle in Detroit he has been much more relaxed, still a bit tense but not downright grumpy like he had been before, it's as if he's trying to make up for now that Loki is in de medical room and he hasn't seen him since the battle.

Fury's gone back to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, he had hurried away, there had been mass chaos and a good cover story was needed. From what Clint knows, he hasn't asked about Loki's…particular condition yet but Clint's very certain the question will come.

"I don't think you understand the game that well Thor." Tony says grinning. They are interrupted by Loki practically running in the room with a night apron.

"Brother!" Thor jumps and grabs his little brother, hugging him and smiling like an idiot.

"I'm happy you're awake, brother!" Loki slaps his brothers back and is unsuccessfully trying to get away.

"Let me go you idiot I can't breathe!" He's beginning to look red by now.

Tony can't stop grinning and his grin just widens when he sees Bruce, leaning against the doorframe out of breath. Thor has finally stopped crushing his brother, he's still holding him however. Loki glares at Thor before he notices who else is in the room, Hawkeye.

XxXxXxXxXx

Steve is jogging (duh), not in central Park since it's still being rebuilt but on the streets. He passes by some other joggers who all look at him in awe when he jogs by but Steve tries to ignore them. The city is bristling with life, like there hasn't been an explosion not 5 days prior, like there hasn't been en attack from outer space a few months ago. It never ceases to amaze Steve how easily the people of New York seem to bounce back into their normal everyday lives no matter what tragedy has struck.

He's just jogging but it seems as if jogging is just asking for trouble because his phone starts to beep and when he doesn't answer it just beeps louder, it's a phone made by Stark, of course it has an attitude.

"Steve Rogers," He sighs, he just wants to run a few miles why does the universe hate him for that?

He's running as fast as he can to Stark tower, yes the universe does hate it when he's jogging.

XxXxXxXxXx

"Black Widow do you copy?"

"Yes"

The place is abandoned and dusty she had been the one closest to the warehouse so she has arrived first, it would be at least 15 minutes before the Avengers got here. Natasha creeps further, silent and alert to any noise but she has already investigated three quarters of this place and she hasn't encountered any enemies yet.

"The base is underground you have to get to the scepter by any means necessary."

She doesn't reply, she had been planning to do just that already anyway, she scans the area again if the base is underground how is she supposed to get there as fast as possible? She can blow the floor up but there's no telling what's down there, if there gas right underneath her feet it would be like signing her own death warrant. Natasha presses at the earpiece and the infrared scanner covers her left eye immediately. She looks down, there are people everywhere but a closer examination makes her correct that statement, there are a lot of people but they're not all human.

A sudden noise makes her look up, footsteps from down the hallway, the machines gathered in this storage are enough she climbs them with ease and flings her body on the ceiling and sticks there thanks to Stark's new and improved suit with magnetic fibers.

Two men come in, no one man and some other creature she knows this for the heat signature isn't right, it's deformed and it shimmers like a projection that's not working properly. The two are talking she strains her ears to hear what they're saying.

"And so far there have been no problems?" it's the deformed creature that speaks, without the infrared scanner she would never have been able to guess he wasn't human.

"SHIELD doesn't know anything, we've made sure of that, the investigation is going well. I still don't understand sir, why are you here? There is no reason to worry I assure you we have everything under control!"

The man speaking has a lab coat on and glasses that look like they weigh at least a pound, he's constantly moving it up because it keeps sliding down his nose and in his right hand he holds a clipboard. He looks nervous and even from so high up Natasha can see the sweat on his brow.

"With everything that happened in Detroit he just wants to make sure everything's moving according to plan, doctor." The answer is clipped, annoyance clear in the voice. The creature posing as a man fastens his pace and the doctor can barely keep up.

"This way please," he says, he quickly steps to the other side of the room and pushes a few buttons at a control panel, steam comes out of it and it moves aside with a creaking noise.

Once they're both gone the control panel moves back to its original place. Neither of them notice her slipping inside with them, they're too busy talking, well the doctor is, the other guy just occasionally grunts in annoyance.

XxXxXxXxXx

"It's here alright," Tony says looking up from his tracking device;

"Spiderwoman activated the tracer inside the building." They're standing outside the warehouse in the dessert. Inside the jet, Bruce is looking at the cameras installed in their clothing.

"Stark's right, it's here the base is underground." All of them can hear him. They all have an earpiece except for Loki and Thor. Thor because he says he can hear Bruce just fine without it and Loki because he's standing next to Bruce in the jet. They had all agreed (except for Loki) that Loki could not fight because of two very obvious reasons: one, the Chitauri were after him, letting him enter would be like presenting him on a silver platter and secondly because Loki is still not healed yet and is still wearing his night apron.

"They're here." He says, looking through the window of the jet. "And so is the scepter." He's staring in a direction Tony can only guess, where the scepter is.

"So we just march in and take the scepter, yes?" Thor's swinging Mjolnir and he looks happy at the thought of a battle.

"Of course not, we have orders we can't just march in if we want to know who's behind this all we have to be subtle." Tony doesn't have to look up to know it's Steve. He looks at the scanner again.

"Hey, guys?" He mumbles. Clint interrupts but says what Tony had wanted to say anyway.

"Stealth isn't an option anymore, they _are_ here and they have the scepter."

XxXxXxXxXx

She doesn't know how they know but they do. She passes them in disguise yet some of them glance up at her when she does. It's only the ones she knows are not human that do but they don't react when they look up, they keep working. She's wearing a lab coat from a hanger in the hallway and glasses that are actually infrared scanners, her hair is tied in a bun and in her hands she holds a clipboard much alike the doctor's. She blends in perfectly and the real humans don't notice her.

Her cover might be blown to fool the Chitauri but she's still tricking the humans and since the Chitauri don't attack her or reveal her true identity she ignores them and pretends she doesn't notice. Her glasses show her that the Avengers have arrived, she's almost reached the room with the scepter in, it's the room her glasses have difficulty with to project, if the scepter is anywhere in this building it's there. She moves her hand to her mouth to pretend she's coughing and to tell Clint to stand back, she's got this when the infrared scanner on her glasses show her what's happening in the room with the scepter in.

Loud noises come from the room and soon gun shots are heard. She doesn't have time to react because then the Chitauri drop their disguises and attack her.

They move to her like one big creature, Natasha dodges them easily, shooting with her guns the whole time.

"Cover's blown!" she yells to Clint via the microphone in her suit. One of the Chitauri tries to punch her but she ducks, grabs his arm and uses his body to open the door that is certain to be blocked. It was anyway, its body crashes into the doors and skids a few feet further in the room.

She's still shooting but she stops when she sees the scepter, in the hands of that disgusting alien she had seen in Detroit and he smiles at her.

"They have the scepter."

"_Warning your pathetic mortal friends, female?" _The words are foreign, it's an accent she's never heard but it talks more clearly than his minions do. He's covered with armor and with the blue glowing staff in his hand he looks sinister. He makes a simple gesture with his hands and two of his minion start shooting at her.

Natasha ducks throwing herself to the ground and killing the enemy at her right. She rolls over the ground and with one swing of her leg, knocks the creature's legs from under him and shoots that one too. The ground starts to shake and all the machines hanging from the wall start beeping an alarm is blearing and more Chitauri warriors fill the room. The ceiling collapses and she can see the Chitauri leader use the distraction to slip out of the room while his soldiers are crushed under the weight of both the ceiling and the Thunder god standing on it.

XxXxXxXxXx

Clint dives after Thor, one quick glance at Natasha who's still shooting the Chitauri tells him she can handle herself. Thor is swinging his hammer and laughing all the while, like a child on a swing. He doesn't wait until the other get there though, he's seen one of those aliens slip away, with the scepter in his hand.

He runs after it, shooting every Chitauri warrior that stands in his way. There are humans too with guns but he tackles them or knocks them unconscious very easily. They're much more fragile than the Chitauri are and it's almost too easy to overpower them.

He makes sure he doesn't lose sight of the scepter but with all the twists and turns in this place it's harder than you'd think. His bow is more of a nuisance than it is useful right now but he still doesn't let go. The alien he's chasing barks something at his soldiers, they start shooting the ceiling. Clint knows what they're doing and he's shooting almost all of his arrows at them but it doesn't stop them, they keep shooting and by the time he gets there, part of the ceiling just collapses he has to jump out of the way to avoid being squashed, some of the Chitauri who had been shooting are not as lucky and are crushed under the rock.

Clint doesn't hesitate he takes an exploding arrow and fires. He doesn't wait until the smoke clears he runs through the hole he's made and keeps running. He runs as fast as he can, there are no Chitauri warriors blocking his path anymore, they must not have though he could get through, but he's still not fast enough when he gets outside he can see the alien with the scepter enter a space ship. He fires the rest of his arrows but it is in vain, the moment the ships takes flight is the moment it blends in with the background and just disappears.

XxXxXxXxXx

Loki hates it that he's just standing there doing nothing while the other might already have the scepter and get away with it. He doesn't understand what Thanos is planning to do with it yet, he knows Thanos was the one who gave it to him in the first place, if he had why make so much effort to get it back? However if the scepter hold what Loki suspects it does he can already guess and if he's right no good can come from it.

He hears the distinct sound of something exploding and knows it must be Thor. The healer is pressing a lot of buttons and keeps talking to the director Fury but Loki doesn't pay attention to what he's saying. It's awfully silent for a few seconds, a new explosion shakes the ground.

_It's the Other _Loki realizes, and when he sees the blue glowing light coming from the object the alien holds his eyes widen _and he has the scepter_.

Loki immediately runs to the exit of this flying device but when he tries to open it it's locked. He doesn't think about the consequences he just blasts the door open with all the magic he has left inside of him but it's weak and the door is only partly destroyed, there's a hole but it's not big enough to get through. He calls upon his magic once more but then he sees the other boarding his ship and by the time Loki's managed to collect enough magic the ship's already disappeared and the scepter with it.

But he's seen the scepter, he had remembered the scepter but not what it was, he had remembered the concept, using it but not he hadn't realized what it was back then. Now he does, the power radiating from it is different now, there's more, it's bigger. There is no doubt about it, _it is the Mind Gem, with more power but not quite enough._ And Loki knows why Thanos wants him so badly. _It needs another boost before it can take over the mind of an Aesir, it needs the Tesseract, or when the Tesseract is not around, a piece of its power will suffice. _

**I had to think long and hard about the plot, how I was going to make this all seem logical. I'll try to explain: Thanos somehow made Loki believe that the scepter was not the Mind gem when he attacked earth. The Mind gem had not enough power to take the mind of an Aesir but it did have enough power to control a few mortals. The Tesseract could power the Mind Gem up enough to control the mind of one of the Aesir. So basically the only thing Thanos need now is the energy inside Loki to get what he wants.**


End file.
